[ad_2]
ENLARGE
Former Chief of Staff and Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, shown in 2011, was arrested on Monday as part of the anticorruption investigation known as Operation Car Wash.
Photo:
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
SÃO PAULO—Brazilian police arrested former Chief of Staff and Finance Minister Antonio Palocci on Monday, as the country’s sprawling anticorruption investigation expands to more high officials from the administrations of ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his successor, Dilma Rousseff.
Mr. Palocci was arrested in his home in São Paulo on allegations that he favored construction company Odebrecht SA in contracts with state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA,
and that he and members of his political party benefited financially from those actions, according to a statement from the Federal Police.
Prosecutors alleged Monday that Odebrecht paid a total of 128 million reais ($39.6 million) in bribes from 2008 through 2013 to members of Mr. da Silva’s and Ms. Rousseff’s Workers’ Party, including to Mr. Palocci.
The payments were made in return for winning contracts with state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA and for pushing tax legislation that would have favored the builder, according to prosecutors.
José Roberto Batochio, Mr. Palocci’s lawyer, denied any wrongdoing by his client, and said that the arrest was unnecessary as he is able to collaborate with authorities’ investigation.
The prosecutors overseeing the probe, known as Operation Car Wash, earlier this month alleged during a televised press conference that Mr. da Silva was conductor of the “criminal orchestra” that oversaw a bid-rigging and bribery scan at Petrobras, as the state oil company is known.
Mr. da Silva was indicted earlier this month on charges of corruption and money laundering related to the investigation. Mr. da Silva has denied all wrongdoing.
According to Fernando Abrucio, a political science professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, Mr. Palocci’s arrest on Monday wasn’t surprising because prosecutors have slowly been closing in on Mr. da Silva and the Workers’ Party since the start of the investigation.
“This adds to what we already knew,” he said. “It’s a snowball effect, and we expect more to come out.
Mr. Palocci was Mr. da Silva’s finance minister from 2003 to 2006 and was Ms. Rousseff’s chief of staff in the first half of 2011. Ms. Rousseff was removed from office in August following a monthslong impeachment process on charges unrelated to the Car Wash investigation.
Mr. Palocci became the second former minister arrested in recent days, after police detained former finance minister Guido Mantega last week on charges also related to the Car Wash probe.
Mr. Mantega, who served as finance minister under both Mr. da Silva and Ms. Rousseff, was released by police after a few hours in custody because of the ill health of his wife. He has denied, through his lawyer, any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said Monday they’re also investigating the possible purchase of a piece of land that was allegedly intended to be used for the construction of a new headquarters of Mr. da Silva’s thinktank, the Instituto Lula. A spokesman for the Instituto Lula said the area never belonged to Mr. Lula nor was it intended for him.
Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com and Luciana Magalhaes at Luciana.Magalhaes@wsj.com
Let's block ads! (Why?)
[ad_1]
Source link
1 COMMENTS