Fall of Fugitive ‘Batman’ Puts Global Oil Trading on the Spot

  • Ex-Petrobras trader accused of taking bribes from major firms
  • Glencore, Vitol, Trafigura implicated in Brazil investigation

Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg

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To his friends, Rodrigo Berkowitz lived within his means in a rented house in the suburbs of Houston.

The former oil trader for state-controlled producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA bought clothes in outlet malls and sent his two daughters to public school. For a family Christmas trip to Orlando, his plan was to drive the 960-mile route in their black Honda CR-V sport utility -- because it was crazy to spend on plane tickets, he said.