"Whistleblowing of the Final Judgment" in Brazil: 9 Ministers, 24 Senators, 39 Deputies and 3 Governors denounced in the Lava Jato Corruption Scandal

Photo: Fábio Rodrigues Pozzebom/Agência Brasil

The so-called “Whistleblowing of the Final Judgment” presented last Tuesday by high executives of the giant construction group Odebrecht is shaking Brazil. In response, Brazilian Supreme Court has opened corruption investigations into nine Ministries, three State Governments, 24 Senators, 39 Members of the Lower House and other elected officials totaling at least 108 politicians.

Edson Fachin, the leading Justice in the “Lava Jato” case (Petrobras corruption scandal), agreed to the investigations after accepting 83 different documents, presented by the Federal Prosecution Office based on plea bargain testimonies of 78 officials or former officials from the Latin America's largest construction group Odebrecht, which has admitted to a massive bribes network in Brazil and overseas.

The investigations refer to elected officials who under Brazilian law can only be judged by the Supreme Court. Former Presidents Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff are not included in the so called “Fachin’s List” since they no longer hold elected posts and are not entitled to the special status.

Likewise, current President Michel Temer has been excluded from the List since he enjoys “temporary immunity”, according to Justice Fachin, one of the eleven members which make up the Brazilian Supreme Court. While in office, Brazilian Presidents can't be charged for crimes not committed during theirs mandate.

The nine Ministers in the List are:

- Eliseu Padilha (Chief of Staff of the Presidency)

- Wellington Moreira Franco (Secretary-General of the Presidency);

- Gilberto Kassab (Minister of Science and Technology);

- Helder Barbalho (Minister National Integration);

- Aloysio Nunes (Minister of Foreign Relacions);

- Blairo Maggi (Minister of Agriculture);

- Bruno Araújo (Minister of Cities);

- Roberto Freire (Minister of Culture);

- Marcos Pereira (Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade).

The three State Governors reported are: Robinson Faria (from the State of Rio Grande de Norte), Tião Viana (State of Acre) and Renan Calheiros Filho (State of Alagoas).

The Speakers of the Senate, Eunicio Oliveira, and from the Lower House, Rodrigo Maia, are also in the “Fachin’s List”. Among the well known Senators are Aécio Neves – President of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Temer's ally and the second most voted Presidential candidate in 2014 – and Romero Jucá, President of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), the government party.

The plea bargain system which has enabled to open the web of corruption in the Brazilian political system, government suppliers and other companies obtained crucial information from Marcelo Odebrecht, President and heir of the Odebrecht construction group; Benedicto Júnior, ex-Head of Infrastructure; Alexandrino Alencar, Head of Institutional Relations; Cláudio Melo Filho, ex-Head of Institutional Relations; José Carvalho Filho, ex-Institutional Relations.

The most frequent crimes allegedly committed are passive and active corruption; money laundering; fraudulent bids; forming cartels and public documents forging.

Apparently, Attorney General Rodrigo Janot sent the Supreme Court last 14th March a total of 320 investigation requests, of which it declined competence on 211 since they did not involve elected or government officials, but were sent to ordinary courts.

When the news broke on Tuesday, a large amount of Deputies and Senators left the Congress in the middle of theirs legislative meetings. The Parliament became empty.

The investigation into nine Ministers, or nearly a third of the President's cabinet, poses a serious threat to Temer's efforts to pass deep austerity reforms that he says are needed to regain investor confidence and lift the economy out of its worst recession on record.  Chief of Staff Eliseu Padilha is one of the ministers under investigation. He’s an experienced politician considered key in negotiations with Congress to pass the administration's crucial pension and other reforms. Likewise ministers in crucial areas such as foreign affairs, trade and agriculture. Thus, the Austerity reforms could be softned or relaxed.

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In a press conference, the house Speaker Rodrigo Maia (DEM) said “the whistleblowers' allegations will be proven wrong eventually.” “The case will be dropped. I trust justice and always will. The Prosecution Service and courts will do a good job, and Congress will do theirs—making laws. There's a separation of powers,” Maia said.

The PT deputies complained case was declassified before the accused “had the chance to know what the charges were,” and issued a statement saying they will prove their “innocence in the case.”

Ricardo Trípoli, the PSDB leader in the lower house, said the PSDB deputies trust justice and the institutions, and called for transparency in publicizing the case. “Declassification will enable the accused to enforce their full right to a fair hearing, so that truth prevails. However, the institutions' work should not bring the country to a standstill. There is a reform agenda pending in Congress that will be crucial in reviving the economy and creating jobs,” Trípoli said in a statement.

Deputy Baleia Rossi, the PMDB leader in the house, also spoke out in support for the Supreme Court's decision to declassify the case records, arguing that a full disclosure of the case is crucial to raise public awareness and ensure a fair trial with the accused having the opportunity to be heard.”

Source: Folha de S. Paulo, Mercopress Agency, Agência Brasil

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Brazil: former Lower House Speaker Cunha, "Rousseff's hangman", sentenced to 15 years in jail for corruption

A Federal Court sentenced Brazil’s former speaker of the Lower House, Eduardo Cunha, to more than 15 years in prison on Thursday for corruption, making him the highest-profile political conviction yet in the “Operation Car Wash” scandal. The former politician’s defense team said they would appeal the decision but Cunha will remain imprisoned pending appeal.

Cunha, who drove the successful impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff, was forced from his position as speaker in July and arrested in October on accusations he received millions in bribes from the purchase of an oil field in Benin by state-run oil company Petrobras.

Over 200 people have been charged in the “Operation Car Wash” probe, a far-reaching investigation that centers on bribes and political kickbacks from contracts at Petrobras. The Supreme Court is likely to approve soon the investigation of dozens of sitting politicians.

In February 2015, Cunha, a member of President Michel Temer’s Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) that for a decade was the main member of left-leaning Workers Party (PT) governments, defied the wishes of his own coalition to run for and win the speakership of the lower house of Congress.

Just six months later, he officially broke with the PT government of Rousseff, saying that she was using the Petrobras investigation as a tool of “political persecution” against him.

As speaker, only Cunha could allow impeachment proceedings to begin against Rousseff, whom critics accused of breaking budgetary laws. He did just that in December 2015, just hours after PT deputies cast deciding votes for him to face an investigation by the House’s ethics committee for lying about bank accounts he and his wife held in Switzerland.

By May, Rousseff was impeached and Temer installed as successor. But Cunha could not shake free of corruption allegations that eventually led to his downfall. Once he was kicked out of congress, Cunha lost the privilege given to sitting politicians that only the badly overburdened Supreme Court can try them.

His case was instead sent to the federal judge Sergio Moro, who has been the driving force behind Brazil’s fight against graft. Moro has a reputation for plowing through cases efficiently, with over 98% of his convictions in Car Wash cases being upheld by higher courts.

Cunha faces another trial for allegedly receiving US$5 million skimmed from Petrobras contracts for two drill ships in 2006 and 2007.

Source: Mercopress Agency

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"Car Wash": A week after the death of Judge Zavascki, Brazilian Supreme Court authorises to resume of Odebrecht testimonies

Chief Justice Cármen Lúcia of Brazil's Supreme Court has authorised assistant judges who had been working with the late Justice Teori Zavascki to resume formal proceedings as of today (Jan 24), to examine plea bargain statements heard from Odebrecht building giant executives in the “Car Wash” corruption investigation.

Justice Zavascki was the judge in charge of the Car Wash case in the Supreme Court. He interrupted his court holidays to examine 77 plea bargain statements heard from Odebrecht executives and admit them as evidence in the Car Wash probe, but he died in a plane crash last Thursday (19).

Zavascki had already authorised his assistant judges to begin hearing the whistleblowers to verify that they had made their statements as part of more than 800 testimonies heard by the Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) out of free will. This is a formal step in the proceedings.

On Monday (23), Justice Cármen Lúcia met with Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot, who has the authority to request the Car Wash statements be dealt with as a matter of urgency. During the court holidays, she can authorise emergency actions on proceedings pending before the Supreme Court.

The contents of the Odebrecht files are keenly anticipated by the society and especially the political establishment, and based on prior leaks in the case, expected to implicate dozens of politicians in the Petrobras corruption scandal.

Source: Agência Brasil

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