Rousseff ex-minister arrested in Brazil graft probe

Sao Paulo: A top ex-minister of Brazil`s suspended president Dilma Rousseff became the latest official to get arrested in a sprawling corruption probe on Thursday, authorities said.

Police also searched the headquarters of Rousseff`s Workers Party in Sao Paulo in one of a series of raids across five states in the country.

In the capital Brasilia they arrested Paulo Bernardo, Rousseff`s former communications minister, the state prosecution service said in a statement.

He was wanted in connection with the paying of $30 million worth of bribes to public officials, it said.

Bernardo was also planning minister under Rousseff`s predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The raids were part of a probe into corruption at state oil firm Petrobras which has netted numerous officials.

Rousseff was suspended last month to face an impeachment trial over separate allegations of fiddling government accounts.

She was replaced pending her trial by vice-president Michel Temer. Three of his ministers have since stepped down over corruption allegations.

The Senate is expected to make a final decision on whether to impeach Rousseff in mid-August, during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.