Rodrigo Janot

Top Prosecutor to Use New Testimony in Bid to Open Investigation into Brazil’s Temer

The office of the prosecutor general signed a plea deal with entrepreneur Lúcio Funaro, who worked for politicians close to Temer, said an anonymous source.

Brazil’s President Michel Temer is pictured before a meeting with Paraguay’s President Horacio Cartes at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, August 21, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Adriano Machado

Brasilia: The office of Brazil’s prosecutor general plans to use an entrepreneur’s testimony in a new plea bargain deal to build up an investigation targeting President Michel Temer, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

The office of the prosecutor general signed a plea deal with entrepreneur Lúcio Funaro, who worked for politicians close to Temer, according to the person, who asked for anonymity to detail the terms of the plea deal.

The content of Funaro’s expected testimonies, which will be taken by prosecutors in coming days, will be used as part of prosecutor general Rodrigo Janot’s plan to present formal charges against Temer, the person said.

Prosecutors in Brazil have been investigating bribes and graft between politicians and private companies in the country’s worst corruption scandal ever. The probes also helped accelerate the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff a year ago.

Racketeering and obstruction of justice charges against Temer could be presented depending on the strength of the evidence, a source told Reuters earlier this month.

Press representatives for Temer did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. Temerand his legal team have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

A spokeswoman for the office of the prosecutor general was not immediately available. Funaro’s lawyer could not be contacted.

On August 2nd, Temer avoided a trial before the Supreme Court when the lower house of Congress rejected a Janot-pressed bribery charge against him.

Janot has repeatedly threatened to bring more corruption charges against the president, related to the latter’s involvement in a massive corruption scandal known as “Operation Car Wash.”

(Reuters)

Brazil Supreme Court Justice Hands Temer Graft Probe to Top Prosecutor

According to plea-bargain testimonies Brazilian President Michel Temer allegedly took bribes to dole out political favours to a large meatpacking company.

Brazil’s President Michel Temer gestures as he speaks in Sao Paulo, Brazil May 30, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Paulo Whitaker

Brasilia: A justice at Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court has delivered to the country’s top prosecutor the bulk of an investigation into allegations that President Michel Temer took bribes in exchange for political favours doled out to the Brazilian meatpacking company JBS SA.

The office of Justice Edson Fachin said it sent a copy of the probe to Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot on Thursday, who will have five days to lodge formal charges against Temer. Under Brazilian law, the probe has to be overseen by Fachin, who approved the graft probe into Temer in May.

The allegations are based on plea-bargain testimony from members of the family that controls JBS, who said they paid Temer at least $4.6 million in bribes since at least 2010 to help win lucrative government contracts, resolve massive tax disputes with the government and help obtain free loans from state development bank BNDES.

The five-day deadline stems from the potential expiration of the preventive detention of a former Temer aide who was accused of receiving bribes on behalf of the president.

Temer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Efforts to contact Temer’s lawyer for comments were unsuccessful.

Brazil: Top Prosecutor Plans to Investigate Ministers, Senators

Brazil’s top prosecutor wants to investigate senior ministers in President Michel Temer’s cabinet and senators from his PMDB party for corruption.

Brazil’s Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot looks on during news conference after a forum titled “Measures Against Corruption” at the state attorney general office in Brasilia, Brazil November 24, 2016. Credit: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Brasilia/Sao Paulo: Brazil‘s top prosecutor will seek authorisation from the Supreme Court as soon as this week to investigate senior ministers in President Michel Temer’s cabinet and senators from his PMDB party for corruption, a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported on Sunday that the request by prosecutor general Rodrigo Janot will include presidential chief of staff Eliseu Padilha and Wellington Moreira Franco, the minister in charge of a major infrastructure and privatisation programme.

According to the paper, Janot is also considering whether to include Temer himself in the request.

The source confirmed the thrust of the Folha report but did not name the ministers and senators involved in the request, which is based on recent plea bargain deals by 77 employees of Brazil‘s largest construction group Odebrecht S.A.

The source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak publicly, said prosecutors will also ask the Supreme Court to make public the content of the executives’ depositions, which are under seal.

Odebrecht – which agreed to pay a record $3.5 billion to Brazilian, Swiss and US authorities to settle bribery charges in December – is at the heart of a sprawling investigation into illegal political payments by firms in return for contracts with Brazilian state oil company Petrobras.

The statements by Odebrecht executives are expected to further tarnish the image of Temer’s government, which is already struggling with rock-bottom ratings as it seeks to pass austerity measures aimed at curbing Brazil‘s massive budget deficit.

However, the slow pace of justice in Brazil would likely allow the government to press ahead with pension and labour reforms in Congress before any impact was felt, analysts say.

“I don’t see a short-term effect on Temer’s clout in Congress,” said Luciano Dias, partner at consultancy firm CAC, noting the Supreme Court typically takes around eight months to formally indict suspects and a further year before a trial begins.

A presidential aide said on Sunday that any minister would only be suspended if prosecutors decided to bring formal charges against them following an investigation, and would only be dismissed if a judge accepted the charges and placed them on trial.

The departure of Padilha, who is already absent on health leave, would deprive the government of one of its most effective political operators but Congressional leadership could take up the slack in ushering through reforms, said Christopher Garman of Eurasia Group.

Temer in crosshairs

The allegations against Padilha and Moreira Franco stemmed from testimony by Odebrecht’s former head of government relations in Brasilia, Cláudio Melo Filho, which was leaked to the media.

The testimony alleged that Odebrecht cultivated ties with senior members of the PMDB for years and that Padilha received an illicit 10 million real ($3.21 million) payment for the party’s 2014 election campaign.

A spokesman for Padilha declined to comment. A representative for Moreira Franco said he had never talked about party issues or financing with Melo Filho.

Folha said the prosecutors’ list included other senior members of the PMDB, including the government’s leader in Congress, Senator Romero Jucá, former Senate head Renan Calheiros, and the current senate president Eunicio Oliveira.

Senior members of the allied PSDB party including former presidential candidate Senator Aécio Neves and Senator José Serra, who resigned as foreign minister two weeks ago, are also being targeted by prosecutors, the paper said.

Press representatives for the senators did not comment on the report.

Former presidents Dilma Rousseff and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party are also among the politicians that Janot intends to investigate, the paper said.

Lawyers for Lula and Rousseff did not respond to requests for comment.

The Constitution forbids investigating a sitting president for crimes committed before the start of his term, but prosecutors are considering whether they should also seek to investigate Temer.

The prosecutors are discussing whether his term as a vice-president, before Rousseff’s impeachment last year, counts as part of his current term, according to the paper.

The Planalto presidential palace did not comment.

The president has repeatedly denied accusations of soliciting illegal funds and insisted any donations were legal and duly registered with electoral authorities.

($1 = 3.1143 reais)

(Reuters)

Brazil’s Michel Temer Plays For Time in Case That Could Unseat Him

The case alleges that proceeds from corruption and political kickbacks were used to fund President Temer’s 2014 election campaign.

Brazil’s President Michel Temer gestures during a meeting with the Pension Reform Commission at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, February 21, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Brasilia: President Michel Temer’s government expects a federal judge to recommend his removal for illegal campaign funding but believes it can stall a final decision by Brazil’s top electoral court until after he leaves office next year, aides said.

If Temer can delay the process it could allow him to press ahead with fiscal reforms and austerity policies that have lifted Brazil’s currency and stocks and raised chances the country will emerge from a deep recession in 2017.

The case before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal alleges that proceeds from corruption and political kickbacks were used to fund Temer’s 2014 election campaign when he was the vice presidential running mate to Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached last year for manipulating budget accounts.

Damaging new evidence was given on Wednesday by the jailed former CEO of Brazil’s largest engineering firm, Marcelo Odebrecht, who confirmed that his company made illegal donations to the campaign to the federal judge handling the case.

Judge Herman Benjamin is now expected to recommend in coming weeks the ticket be annulled, presidential aides said.

If the decision were confirmed by the electoral court, Temer would be removed and a successor picked by Congress to lead Brazil to elections at the end of next year.

But Temer is playing for time, counting on a possible appeals process stretching on past the next general election scheduled for October 2018, in which he has said he will not stand, a presidential aide said on Thursday.

“There is an ample gamut of appeal options. The president thinks this will drag out into 2019,” the aide said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

Legal experts said the court is a conservative panel unlikely to oust a president but that could change if Brazil’s worst ever recession drags on and a widening bribery scandal paralyses Temer’s government.

Brazil’s establishment is bracing for the publication of explosive plea bargain statements by 77 Odebrecht employees expected to list dozens of politicians who took kickbacks from a company at the centre of bribery investigations in a dozen Latin American countries.

O Globo newspaper reported on Thursday that Brazil’s top prosecutor Rodrigo Janot was planning to open corruption investigations against 30 senators and congressmen next week based on the Odebrecht testimony.

The company’s former chief executive confirmed that some 150 million reais were donated to the Rousseff-Temer campaign, including 50 million reais in bribes to facilitate legislation that favoured Odebrecht.

A source with access to Odebrecht’s statement told Reuters he testified Temer had never discussed a specific campaign contribution at a dinner in 2014, effectively sparing the president.

However, Brazilian media reported the jailed entrepreneur implicated Temer’s chief of staff, Eliseu Padilha, as the man who handled the donations.

Odebrecht’s testimony is expected to seal the fate of Padilha, who is facing other allegations of handling cash payments to fund Temer’s PMDB party, but it will prolong investigations and gain the president vital time.

“The process will continue somewhat longer because more depositions and inquiries will have to be made now,” Temer’s lawyer Gustavo Guedes said by telephone.

Guedes said it was hard to tell whether the case would reach the TSE plenary this year or next.

In May, Temer will have the chance to fill two vacancies on the seven-member electoral court and is expected to appoint jurists who will favour his case.

(Reuters)

Brazilian Police Refuse to End Strike in State Plagued By Murders

The Brazilian police said that 138 people had been murdered in the state since last Saturday, a six-fold increase over the average homicide rate in 2016.

Police officers carry a body during a military police strike in Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil February 10, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Vitoria: Police in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo did not return to work on Saturday, although the government had announced hours earlier that a deal had been struck to end a week-long strike that has led to a sharp increase in murders.

Most of the violence has been centered in the poor regions of metropolitan Vitoria, the state capital, which is ringed by beaches and where the petroleum, mining and port industries have a strong presence.

On Saturday, Vitoria streets were calm as more soldiers and elite federal police arrived in the state, with more than 4,000 in place to bolster the initial deployment of 1,200 soldiers.

Officials in the state, located just north of Rio de Janeiro, said late Friday that they had reached an agreement with representatives of the police for patrols to resume at 7 am (0900 GMT). But family members of the officers told Reuters that no such accord had been reached.

Defense minister Raul Jungmann and Brazil‘s chief prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, met with state officials and representatives of the police in Vitoria on Saturday in an effort to advance negotiations, but no accord was reached.

Jungmann told the UOL news portal that the striking police officers “are contributing to the rise in crime” and that “whether they know it or not, they are on the side of the criminals who are killing citizens.”

A military police officer (R) talks with relatives of police officers who are blocking the main entrance of police headquarters, during a police strike over wages, in Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil February 11, 2017. Credit: Reuters

The wives of police and other relatives, who have led the strike by forming human blockades of barracks, refused to budge on Saturday.

Under Brazilian law, it is illegal for police to strike, which is why their family members have taken action to physically prevent police cars leaving barracks. The police themselves have not tried to remove their families, leading to fears among some of the relatives that soldiers could try to remove them by force.

The striking police said they had not received a raise in four years and their base pay of about 2,700 reais ($867) a month was among the lowest in Brazil.

Aline Santana, an 18-year-old mother of two young boys, was out for a walk in central Vitoria on Saturday, and her mix of understanding and frustration echoed the sentiments of many citizens.

“I think most people understand their need to strike, but they are leaving the population vulnerable to all types of threats,” she said. “If they had been on strike for two or three days, we could take it. But a week of being in this chaos is not acceptable.”

Military policemen protest outside their battalion during a police strike in Vitoria, Brazil, February 10, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Officials have closed schools, clinics and public transportation, while shops and other businesses have remained shuttered, causing over $30 million in losses, a state retail association said.

Espirito Santo is one of several Brazilian states hit by a budget crisis that is crippling essential public services. The police strike over pay has left a security vacuum and led to rampant assaults, robberies and looting, often in broad daylight.

The police union said Saturday that 138 people had been murdered in the state since last Saturday, a six-fold increase over the average homicide rate in 2016. State security agents have said that most of the murders appear to be related to the drug trade or other crimes, although bystanders have also been caught up in the violence.

Limited protests by police in Rio de Janeiro on Friday and Saturday alarmed residents of the metropolitan area of 12 million people, where crime has spiked in the past year. But state officials said more than 95% of police were on patrol in Rio, calming fears of an imminent strike.

(Reuters)

Brazil SC Justice Opens Probe Against Suspended President

This is the first time that the court has authorised an investigation into Rousseff, who is expected to stand impeachment trial in the senate on August 25.

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff (L) and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attend the appointment of Lula da Silva as chief of staff, at Planalto palace in Brasilia, Brazil, March 17, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Adriano Machado

Sao Paulo: A Brazilian Federal Supreme Court justice has authorised the opening of an investigation into President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for allegedly working to obstruct the course of a sweeping corruption probe, GloboNews news channel said on Tuesday.

According to GloboNews, Justice Teori Zavascki’s ruling has given prosecutor general Rodrigo Janot permission to look for additional evidence that Rousseff sought to name Lula to a cabinet post to help him avoid prosecution. In June, Zavascki barred the use of some wiretaps that showed Rousseff and Lula negotiating the cabinet appointment.

The news channel, without saying how it obtained the information, also said Zavascki authorised the opening of separate investigations against Aloizio Mercadante and Jose Eduardo Cardozo, two former Rousseff ministers, for similar allegations.

Press representatives at the STF (Supremo Tribunal Federal) and the prosecutor-general’s office in Brasilia could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement, Rousseff’s press staff denied any attempt to obstruct justice, adding that the investigation will allow “the truth to prevail.” Spokespeople for Cardozo and Mercadante did not immediately comment. In a widely sent email, Lula’s lawyers said the former president “did not practise any act that could configure obstruction of justice.”

The decision is likely to escalate pressure on the two leading political figures, whose Workers Party is ensnared in an ongoing bribes-for-state contracts scandal known in Brazil as ‘operation car wash.’

This is the first time that a Supreme Court justice has authorised an investigation into Rousseff, who is expected to stand impeachment trial in the senate on August 25 for allegedly doctoring budget accounts. Only the STF can authorise investigations against Rousseff and cabinet ministers because they enjoy immunity from prosecution.

Late last month, a federal judge pressed charges against Lula for allegedly working to obstruct the work of investigators in the car wash probe.

According to the judge’s July 30 decision, Lula and another five people allegedly conspired in an attempt to buy the silence of a former executive at state-controlled oil producer Petróleo Brasileiro SA who was involved in the scandal.

(Reuters)