The Brazilian-Swiss wealth manager emerged as the latest private bank in a wide-ranging money laundering probe connected to Brazilian state-controlled oil firm Petrobras.

Switzerland's attorney general is investigating J. Safra Sarasin as part of a graft probe into Petrobras, it said in an emailed statement. The probe was initiated last November on grounds that Safra Sarasin's anti-money laundering measures and corruption prevention may have been inadequate.

The probe into Safra Sarasin, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, comes two days after the Swiss prosecutor filed its first indictment over Petrobras. The Swiss end of «Lava Jato», or car wash in Portuguese, looked into more than 1,000 bank accounts at more than 40 Swiss banks. 

Filtered Bribes?

Prosecutors allege Swiss banks filtered bribes of $1 billion, among them allegedly PKB, Notenstein La Roche, Julius Baer, Credit Suisse, Union Bancaire Privée, Lombard Odier, Pictet and Banque Heritage. Safra Sarasin's involvement was first reported by «Reuters».

The investigation poses a first, stiff challenge for Juerg Haller, the UBS veteran who recently took over as chairman of J. Safra Sarasin. The bank, which recently poached to bolster its business in Switzerland, turned up as one of the trimmest Swiss wealth managers in an industry comparison.