RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Travel across Brazil and you'll spot signs almost everywhere for BR Distribuidora, the owner of South America's largest gas station chain. The familiar green-and-yellow logo of the company, formerly a unit of state oil giant Petrobras, is a fixture in big cities and hamlets alike.
Less well-known is BR's effort to purge its retail network of alleged crooks. In 2019, the company booted hundreds of independent franchisees from its network for purported "irregularities," a BR spokesman told Reuters, including evading fuel taxes and ripping off customers with adulterated gasoline. In all, BR stripped its name from 730 outlets, roughly 10% of its Brazilian network at the time, the company said.
