A Brazilian judge has been stymied in efforts to prosecute former Greek honorary consul Konstantinos Kotronakis and his son Georgios on charges that they were involved in paying bribes to secure tanker charter deals with Petrobras.

The pair were among 10 defendants whom Brazilian prosecutors charged in 2019 on suspicion of involvement in paying $17.6m in bribes and other illicit payments to secure deals with the government-controlled oil giant.