UPDATE 1-Brazilian prosecutors target bank execs in new phase of 'Car Wash' corruption probe

The Brazilian federal police on Wednesday executed three arrest warrants against executives of Brazil's Banco Paulista SA in connection with a money laundering investigation, according to a statement from federal prosecutors.

Under the alleged scheme, at least 48 million reais ($12 million) were laundered between 2009 and 2015, the authorities said in the statement referring to an alleged corruption scheme involving Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht . Banco Paulista's press office did not have an immediate comment on the operation.

The prosecutors said they were also executing 41 search warrants at addresses that may be linked to the scheme. According to the authorities, Banco Paulista, a small Brazilian bank, is a party in a scam orchestrated by Odebrecht, which had a department set up to channel bribes to public agents and politicians to win public contracts, especially at state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA.

Odebrecht did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The so-called Car Wash investigation, started in 2014, has sent powerful politicians and businessmen to jail in the world's biggest graft probe of its kind.

Investigators have long speculated about the role of Brazilian banks in the vast money laundering network that they have uncovered. Prosecutor Júlio Noronha said Wednesday's operations mark "the beginning [of a process] to punish agents working in the financial and banking industries, who helped to launder millions of reais and helped to pay bribes under the big scheme being investigated." ($1 = 3.9700 reais) (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Ana Mano in São Paulo; Editing by Alison Williams and Bill Trott)

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