BRAZILIAN prosecutors formally charged Workers Party treasurer Joao Vaccari and 26 others on Monday with corruption linked to state oil company Petrobras.

Deltan Dallagnol said that he and fellow prosecutors had “ample proof” that Mr Vaccari solicited donations from former Petrobras services chief Renato Duque and executives at engineering firms accused of funnelling money from the oil company.

Mr Vaccari was well aware that the donations he was seeking comprised funds stemming from bribes, he added.

President Dilma Rousseff’s Workers Party insists that all the donations it received were legal.

She said the charges against Mr Vaccari showed that her government had not interfered with the investigation to get the party off the hook.

Ms Rousseff denies knowing about corruption at Petrobras despite chairing its board from 2003 to 2010 when wrongdoing occurred.

“If they want to investigate, they will investigate. Whoever is found responsible will have to pay for what they did,” she said.