Benedito Lyra (born May 1, 1941) is a Brazilian politician from

Alagoas Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. It ...

, member of

Progressistas Progressistas (; PP) is a centre-right to right-wing political party in Brazil. Founded in 1995 as the Brazilian Progressive Party, it emerged from parties that were successors to ARENA, the ruling party of the Brazilian military dictatorship. A ...

(PP), former Senator for his state and incumbent Mayor of Barra de São Miguel.

Biography

Lira is

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

by the

Federal University of Alagoas Located in the city of Maceió, the Federal University of Alagoas ( pt, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, UFAL or Ufal) is the major university in coastal state Alagoas and one of the main research centers in Brazilian north eastern region (one o ...

(UFAL). He began his political career as City Councillor in his hometown between 1966 and 1970, and later as City Councillor of

Maceió Maceió (), formerly sometimes Anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form la ...

for two consecutive terms, between 1973 and 1982. He was State Deputy from 1983 to 1994. In 2002, Lira was elected Federal Deputy for the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB), and re-elected in 2006 for the Progressive Party (PP). In 2010, he was elected Senator with 904,345 votes, representing 35.94% of the valid votes. In December 2016, he voted in favor of the Constitutional Amendment to limit public expenses (PEC 241). In July 2017, voted to approve the new Labour Reform. In October 2017, voted to maintain Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG) in office, suspending the effects of the decision of the First Group of the

Supreme Federal Court The Supreme Federal Court ( pt, Supremo Tribunal Federal, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for consti ...

, in an investigation which he is accused of corruption and obstruction of justice after asking for R$ 2 million (US$ in 2017) to businessman

Joesley Batista Joesley Mendonça Batista (born 8 December 1972) is a Brazilian businessman, son of José Batista Sobrinho. He is responsible for the expansion and internationalization process of JBS S.A., the largest meat-packing company in the world, and one ...

Controversies

Ambulances mafia

Benedito de Lira was one of the involved in the scandal of overpriced ambulances, also known as "leeches".

Corruption in Petrobras

Benedito de Lira, and his son Arthur Lira, are investigated by the Federal Police in the scheme of corruption in the state oil company

Petrobras Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., better known by the portmanteau Petrobras (), is a state owned enterprise, state-owned Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The company's name transla ...

. The Police found evidences of passive corruption after the conclusion of iopen inquiries to investigate the participation of Benedito and Arthur Lira. According to the report, Arthur and Benedito "benefited with the receivement of undue periodic amounts, from the payment of bribes by companies which had contracts with Petrobras, due to the control of the Progressive Party of the Directory of Supplies, office held by Paulo Roberto Costa, in exchange for votes in projects of interest of the federal government". In February 2016, Lira had his goods blocked by the Supreme Federal Court, in a decision ruled by Justice

Teori Zavascki Teori Albino Zavascki (15 August 1948 – 19 January 2017) was a Brazilian judge who served as a Minister of the Superior Court of Justice from 8 May 2003 until 29 November 2012, appointed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and as a Min ...

, in a total of R$1.6 million (US$ ) The request for the blocking was made by the

Prosecutor General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Rodrigo Janot Rodrigo Janot Monteiro de Barros (born September 15, 1956, Belo Horizonte) is a Brazilian jurist who served as the Prosecutor General of the Republic from 2013 to 2017. Career Rodrigo Janot graduated with an undergraduate degree in law from th ...

, who was responsible for the investigation against federal parliamentaries in the operation.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lira, Benedito Living people 1942 births Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alagoas Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Alagoas Members of the Federal Senate (Brazil) Progressistas politicians