Powerful Brazilian lawmaker orders Americanas accounting probe

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira attends a session at the Chamber of Deputies to vote on a constitutional amendment that increases the government spending ceiling in Brasilia, Brazil December 20, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

The head of Brazil's lower house authorized on Wednesday the creation of a committee to investigate Americanas, the retailer at the center of a nearly $4 billion accounting scandal.

Arthur Lira gave the green light to create the so-called CPI committee, which will include 27 federal lawmakers appointed by party leaders, the lower house said in a statement posted on its website.