Brazil charges former presidents in corruption probe
Brazil has formally charged two former presidents, Dilma
Rousseff and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with racketeering for plotting
to skim funds from Petrobras, the state-owned oil firm.
Brazil's top prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, alleged on Tuesday
that eight members of the Workers Party, including Lula and Rousseff,
committed a series of crimes involving Petrobras such as cartel
formation, corruption and money laundering.
They were the first criminal charges to be levelled against Rousseff, who was impeached in 2016 for breaking budgetary laws.
The news was particularly bad for the uphill battle Lula is waging to win the presidency again.
Lula, who is still Brazil's most popular politician,
is appealing a corruption conviction that would bar him from running for
president in 2018.
He faces four other corruption trials.
Rousseff was Lula's designated successor, and Brazil's first female president.
"The crimes are believed to have taken place at least from
mid-2002 to May 12, 2016" when Rousseff was suspended as part of
impeachment proceedings, the attorney general's office said.
Their Workers' Party allegedly pocketed $475m in bribe
money, "making use of public entities including Petrobras, the National
Development Bank (BNDES) and the Planning Ministry", according to the
charges.
Janot alleged that much of what became a transnational corruption operation was run by Lula.
Lula's lawyer said the law was being misused to persecute the former president.
In a statement, the Workers Party said the charges were
baseless and being used to divert attention from other investigations,
including one into a former federal prosecutor, referring to a case
Janot announced on Monday.
A representative for Rousseff said the prosecutor's office
offered no evidence of the crimes and called on the Supreme Court to
guarantee the right to defend against them.
The charges arise from the Operation Car Wash investigation
that uncovered a cartel of companies paying bribes to officials to
secure Petrobras contracts, revelations that have spawned a host of
investigations that has shaken Brazil's political system and economy.
Dozens of senior leaders across the political spectrum and
high-ranking businessmen have been investigated or convicted since the
sprawling corruption scandal broke in 2014.
Source: News agencies
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