A long series of criminal investigations have occurred in Brazil associated with
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
, since the first one began in March 2014. These investigations are considered offshoots of the original
phased investigations.
Background
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
( pt, Operação Lava Jato) is an ongoing investigation into
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
and
political corruption
Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain.
Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, in ...
in Brazil, which has been led by
investigative judge
In an inquisitorial system of law, the examining magistrate (also called investigating magistrate, inquisitorial magistrate, or investigating judge) is a judge who carries out pre-trial investigations into allegations of crime and in some cases ma ...
s, and carried out by the
Federal Police.
Since its initiation in March 2014, many supplemental investigations that were offshoots of the original one have been conducted by the
Public Prosecutor's Office, the
Attorney General's Office
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a department of His Majesty's Government that supports the Attorney General and their deputy, the Solicitor General (together, the Law officers of the Crown in England and Wales). It is sometimes referred ...
and the
Federal Police from documents collected from
search warrants, depositions from ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants, and documents and testimony obtained through
plea bargaining ( pt, delação premiada, label=none).
It has resulted in more than a thousand judicial warrants being served for three
investigative judge
In an inquisitorial system of law, the examining magistrate (also called investigating magistrate, inquisitorial magistrate, or investigating judge) is a judge who carries out pre-trial investigations into allegations of crime and in some cases ma ...
s. Politicians from Brazil's largest parties, including former
presidents of Brazil
The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...
, presidents of the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
and the
Federal Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature.
Senate or the Senate may also refer to:
* Any one of the national senates in the world, including
** The Brazilian Senate
** The United States Sen ...
, and state governors are involved, as well as businessmen from large Brazilian companies. Originally a
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
investigation, it expanded to cover allegations of
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
at the state-controlled 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 ...
, where executives allegedly accepted
bribes
Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...
in return for awarding contracts to construction firms at inflated prices. At the time Petrobras had more debt and a higher market valuation that any other corporation. It accounted for more than an eighth of all investment in Brazil.
The investigation is called "Operation Car Wash" because it was first uncovered at a car wash in Brasília.
The Federal Police have called it the largest corruption investigation in the country's history. The investigation later spread well beyond its origins in the state of Rio de Janeiro to include systemic kickbacks in many sectors and levels of the Brazilian business world. More than £1.4 billion was siphoned from the economy, but Global Witness says that the cost to the country is as much as 800% more.
The goal of the investigation is to ascertain the extent of a money laundering scheme, estimated to be (US$– billion), largely through
embezzlement
Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
of Petrobras funds. At least eleven other countries, mostly in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, were involved, and the Brazilian companies
JBS S.A.
JBS S.A. is a Brazilian company that is the largest meat processing company (by sales) in the world, producing factory processed beef, chicken and pork, and also selling by-products from the processing of these meats. It is headquartered in São ...
and
Odebrecht
Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...
were also deeply implicated.
[Kurtenbach, S., & Nolte, D. (2017). Latin America's Fight against Corruption: The End of Impunity. GIGA Focus Lateinamerika, (03).]
In Brazil
2015
Operation Politeia
![Casa_da_Dinda_-_panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Casa_da_Dinda_-_panoramio.jpg)
On 14 July 2015, the
Federal Police started Operation Politeia, issuing 53 search and seizure warrants at the homes of politicians involved in the
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 ...
corruption scheme. After searches at 40 addresses in seven different states (including the
Federal District
A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...
), the Federal Police seized three luxury cars at the ' mansion owned by
Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (; born 12 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician who served as the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his impeachment trial by the Brazilian Senate. Coll ...
and
R$ 3.67 million ($) in cash.
In addition to Collor search and arrest warrants were served on Senators
Fernando Bezerra Coelho
Fernando Bezerra Coelho (born December 7, 1957) is a Brazilian politician. He has represented Pernambuco in the Federal Senate since 2015. Previously he was the Minister of National Integration from 2011 to 2013 and a Deputy from Pernambuco f ...
(PSB-PE) and (PP-PI), Federal Deputy (PP-PE), former Minister of Cities
Mário Negromonte
Mário Sílvio Mendes Negromonte (born 6 July 1950) is a Brazilian who has served as minister of cities under the Rousself administration and a member of the chamber of deputies from Bahia. Although born in Pernambuco, he has spent his political ...
(PP-BA) and former Federal Deputy (PP-SC).
Arrest of Delcídio do Amaral
On 25 November 2015, the Federal Police arrested Senator
Delcídio do Amaral
Delcídio do Amaral Gomez (born February 2, 1955) is a Brazilian politician. He worked at Shell and was nominated to Petrobras's Internacional Directory by president Fernando Henrique Cardoso where he worked until 2001 when he left Petrobras and s ...
for trying to impede the
colaboração premiada (rewarded collaboration) of former Petrobras director about the senator's alleged participation in irregularities in the purchase of
Pasadena Refining System
Chevron Pasadena Refinery is a refinery located in Pasadena, Texas, United States.
History
According to an article published in the Daily Oil, the market suspected that company owner Henry Rosenberg was preparing to sell the company. The refin ...
in the state of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. Police said in 2015 that they had found evidence of $15 million in bribes related to the purchase of the refinery Petrobras first held a 50% share of the refinery, then later bought the other half as well, as a result of a dispute with its partner, Astra Oil, which had purchased the entire refinery in 2005 for US$42.5 million. A year later Petrobras bought a half interest in the refinery for US$360 million. They wound up paying $820.6 in 2012 when a US court enforced a provision of the sales contract. In January 2019 Petrobras signed a sale agreement for their interest in Pasadena Refinery, as well as three refineries he in Brazil, Abreu e Lima (RNEST), (RLAM), Presidente Getúlio Vargas (REPAR) and Alberto Pasqualini (REFAP).
Cervero was sentenced 17 August 2015 to 12 years in prison for
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
and corruption for a bribe paid to the speaker of the lower house by
Samsung Heavy Industries
Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Korean: 삼성중공업) is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world and one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea (including Hyundai and Daewoo). Geoje (in Gyeongsangnam-do) is one of the largest ...
for two
drillship contracts.
Cervero had previously been sentenced to five years for using a
shell company
A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...
to launder money stolen from Petrobras and buy a luxury apartment in Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras fired him in 2014.
According to investigators, Delcídio offered Cerveró an opportunity to escape, so that he wouldn't testify against him in return for a reduced sentence. The authorities saw this as an attempt to
obstruct justice.
A recording made by Cerveró's son showed the Senator's intention to interfere in the investigations and offer the former executive escape so that he would not talk. In addition to Delcídio do Amaral and his chief of staff, two others were also arrested in the affair; banker
André Esteves
André Santos Esteves (born July 12, 1968) is a Brazilian billionaire businessman. Among Brazilian billionaires, Esteves is ranked 6th with a net worth of R$20.75 billion, according to ''Forbes'' business magazine. He currently serves as senior p ...
, then CEO of
BTG Pactual
BTG Pactual is a Brazilian financial company that operates in the markets of investment banking, wealth management, asset management, corporate lending and sales and trading. It offers advisory services in mergers and acquisitions, wealth planni ...
, and Nestor Cerveró's defense lawyer Edson Ribeiro.
Brazil's currency fell 2% on news of the arrests. BTG is Latin America's largest investment bank, and Delcídio had been head of the Senate economic affairs committee, deeply involved with proposed
austerity
Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
measures.
Operation Craton
On 8 December 2015, Operation Craton, an offshoot of
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
launched to combat the illegal exploitation of diamonds on
Cinta Larga
The Cinta Larga (or Cinturão Largo) are a people indigenous to the western Amazon Rainforest of Brazil, numbering almost 2,000. Their name means "broad belt" in Portuguese, referring to large bark sashes the tribe once wore. The tribe is famou ...
indigenous lands in
Rondônia
Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...
. About 200 federal police officers served 90 warrants, including 11 pre-trial detention, 41 search and seizure and 35 ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants. Warrants were served in the Federal District, Rondônia,
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
,
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
Paraná,
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...
,
Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
,
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP.
Neighboring ...
and
Pará
Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...
. Information on the extraction of the precious stones was obtained during investigations against the money changer , owner of the "Posto da Torre" car wash in
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
for which Operation Car Wash was named.
Operation Barren Lives
On 11 December 2015, federal police launched Operation Barren Lives ( pt, Operação Vidas Secas, label=none ) as an offshoot of
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
. It investigated
invoice padding for works on the
São Francisco River
The São Francisco River (, ) is a large river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon, the Paraná and t ...
. There were 32 court orders, 24 of which were for search and seizure, four for temporary arrest and four for ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants. The president of Construtora OAS, Elmar Varjão, was held in São Paulo, and executives of Coesa Engenharia, Barbosa Melo and , were arrested in the operation. According to investigators, entrepreneurs used
shell companies
A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...
to divert at least $200 million. The value of the investigated contracts is R$680 million ($).The Federal Police also pointed to the participation of , a company belonging to former Minister
José Dirceu
José Dirceu (; born March 16, 1946), in full José Dirceu de Oliveira e Silva, is a former Brazilian politician. His political rights were suspended by the Brazilian House of Representatives and he was found guilty by the Brazilian Supreme Cour ...
, arrested in Operation Car Wash. The Federal Police's regional superintendent in
Pernambuco
Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...
, Marcelo Diniz, said the PF had found a transfer of R$586,000 ($) from Galvão Engenharia to JD Consultoria.
Operation Catiline Orations
On 15 December 2015, the Federal Police launched a new offshoot of Operation Car Wash, dubbed "Operation Catiline Orations" ( pt, Operação Catilinárias, label=none),
serving search and seizure warrants at the official residence of Deputy
Eduardo Cunha
Eduardo Cosentino da Cunha (born 29 September 1958), is a Brazilian politician and radio host, born in Rio de Janeiro. He was President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil from February 2015 until May 5, 2016, when he was removed from the pos ...
(
PMDB – Rio de Janeiro), in
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
. Warrants were also served at Rio de Janeiro addresses of the PMDB. Police also carried out a search and arrest warrants at the homes of Federal Deputy (PMDB -
Ceará
Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...
) and Minister of Science and Technology .
Others involved in the operation are Senator
Edison Lobão (PMDB –
Maranhão
Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...
), former Minister of Mines and Energy;
Henrique Eduardo Alves
Henrique Eduardo Lyra Alves (born December 9, 1948) is a Brazilian politician. A member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party
The Brazilian Democratic Movement ( pt, Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. ...
(PMDB –
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", ref ...
), then Minister of Tourism and
Sérgio Machado
Sérgio Machado (born 19 September 1968) is a Brazilian film director and screenwriter. His film '' Cidade Baixa'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
Filmography
* ''Onde a Terra Acaba'' (2001; direct ...
, a former president of
Transpetro
Petrobras Transporte S.A. (Transpetro) is the largest oil and gas transportation company of Brazil. Transpetro works with transportation and storage activities of oil and byproducts, ethanol, biofuels and natural gas. It is responsible for a netw ...
named by PMDB. The main purpose of the Federal Police was to prevent destruction of evidence. Documents were seized in
Recife
That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15)
, image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg
, mapsize = 250px
, map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco
, pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...
,
Brejão
Brejão is a municipality/city in the state of Pernambuco in Brazil. The population in 2020 was 8,987 and the total area is 159.79 km2.
Geography
* State - Pernambuco
* Region - Agreste of Pernambuco
* Boundaries - Garanhuns (N and E); ...
,
Agreste
The agreste (, "countryside") is a narrow zone of Brazil in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia between the coastal forest ''zona da mata'' and the semiarid ''sertão''. The agreste fades out after ...
, and
Petrolina
Petrolina is a municipality located in the southernmost point of the state of Pernambuco, in Northeast Brazil, in the valley of the São Francisco River. The population was 354,317 in 2020, and the total area is km², making it the largest m ...
, in
Sertão
The ''sertão'' (, plural ''sertões'') is the "hinterland" or "backcountry". In Brazil, it refers both to one of the four sub-regions of the Northeast Region of Brazil (similar to the specific association of "outback" with Australia in English ...
. All seized material was sent to Recife and then to Brasilia.
Operation Black Blood
On 17 December 2015, investigated money diverted from
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 ...
contracts since 1997.
The lawsuit relates to investigations into a bribery scheme involving the Dutch company
SBM Offshore and the Brazilian state-owned oil company. Four pre-trial detention warrants were served, two of which were against former directors arrested in
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
, and . Police searched the homes of the respondents and the offices of Petroserv, an oil prospecting company. According to the investigations, Petroserv received transfers of 3% to 5% of games contracts from Petrobras and, of this total, sent 1% to accounts of companies abroad. Investigators point out that this money was laundered and remitted to Brazil as a bribe. In June this year, former SBM representative in Brazil Júlio Faerman, whistleblower and one of the scheme operators investigated by Lava Jato.
told the that he guaranteed "significant gains" to the Brazilian state-owned company while acting on behalf of the Dutch company. A month earlier, CPI members went to London to gather testimony from Jonathan David Taylor, a former SBM director who reported irregularities in contracts signed between the Dutch company and Petrobras.
2016
Operation Recipient
On 26 February 2016, Operation Recipient ( pt, O Recebedor, label=none) investigated an alleged bribery and fraud scheme in the construction of the and based on evidence gathered in
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
. In all, the Federal Police served seven ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants and 44 search and arrest warrants in six states—
Paraná,
Maranhão
Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
Sao Paulo
SAO or Sao may refer to:
Places
* Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD
* Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso
* Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...
,
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
,
Goiás
Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...
—and the
Federal District
A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...
. The operation, by the
Federal Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Police in
Goiás
Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...
, targeted contracts signed between the state-owned company , responsible for railway construction, and contractors investigated in the oil industry, such as
Odebrecht
Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...
, Brazilian industrial conglomerate , , , ,
Grupo Camargo Corrêa, among others. According to the Federal Police, the contractors made regular payments through mock contracts to a law firm and to two other companies nominated by , known as "Juquinha", former president of Valec.The companies acted as a front to hide the illicit origin of the money. All were charged with passive corruption and money laundering.
The name of the operation refers to the defense presented by one of the targets in a previous investigation called the pt, Trem Pagador, label=none ("Pay Train"). In it, the defense alleged that "if the train was the paymaster, the target was not the recipient". According to the
Public Prosecutor's Office in Goiás,
Camargo Corrêa Camargo may refer to:
Places
Bolivia:
* Camargo, Chuquisaca
Brazil:
* Camargo, Rio Grande do Sul
Mexico:
* Camargo, Chihuahua
* Camargo, Tamaulipas
Spain:
* Camargo, Cantabria
United States of America:
* Camargo, Illinois
* Camargo, Kentucky ...
admitted having paid R$800,000 ($) to Juquinha. In that one state alone, the authorities estimated that the scheme diverted R$630 million ($) from the public coffer.
Operation Xepa
On 22 March 2016, the 26th phase of
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
launched, called , an offshoot of
Operation Acarajé. In Operation Xepa, 67 search and seizure warrants, 28 ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants, 11 temporary arrest warrants and 4 preventive arrest warrants were executed in the states of São Paulo, Brasilia,
Santa Catarina, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul,
Piauí
Piaui (, ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP.
Piaui has the shortest coastline of any coastal Brazilian state at 66&n ...
and Bahia. The Federal Police discovered, through analysis of documents from the Acarajé operation, cash payments to third parties indicated by senior
Odebrecht
Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...
executives, using financial operators in the parallel foreign exchange market to make illegal payments.
Operation Janus
On 20 May 2016, PF launched
Operation Janus, focusing on international
influence peddling at
Odebrecht S.A. and in the family of the former president
Lula.
Among the targets of the operation was Lula's nephew, Taiguara Rodrigues dos Santos, taken to the stand. The intention of the investigation was to verify whether contracts of a company, which belongs to Taiguara, were used with Odebrecht for the payment of undue advantages.
The judge
Vallisney de Souza Oliveira, of the 10th Federal District Court, responsible for the case, issued four search and seizure warrant and ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants, authorizing the breach of bank secrecy, tax and computerized data of nine suspects. The investigation that supported the warrants was opened on 23 December 2015.
Operation Brazil Cost
On 23 June 2016, the Federal Police launched Operation Brazil Cost,) is the increased cost of doing business in Brazil based on in-country factors, such as administrative corruption, excessive bureaurocracy, dysfunctions in import-export operations, inefficiency in public services, and others. with searches in São Paulo, Curitiba, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Sul,
and with the arrest of the former
Minister of Planning of the and of Communications in the first ,
Paulo Bernardo
Paulo Bernardo Silva (born 10 March 1952) is a Brazilian politician, member of the Workers' Party (PT). He was Minister of Communications during the government of Dilma Rousseff and Minister of Planning during the government of Luiz Inácio L ...
. The operation is an offshoot of the
18th phase of Operation Car Wash. Paulo is the husband of Senator
Gleisi Hoffmann (
Workers' Party-
Paraná) and he was arrested in Brasília. , former
Minister of Social Security of the Dilma administration, was the target of
search and seizure.
The operation involved the computer company . The Federal Police suspected a R$100 million ($) bribe by this company in a contract assignment scheme at the
Ministry of Planning when Paulo Bernardo was minister.
In the same operation, agents of the Federal Police seized computers, documents and archival material at the headquarters of the national executive committee of the
Workers' Party in downtown São Paulo.
Operation Periodic Table
On 30 June 2016, the Federal Police launched a joint operation called "Operation Periodic Table" on behalf of three governmental units, in order to fulfill 44 search and seizure warrants and 14 ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants in the state of
Goiá, and eight other federative units. About 200 federal police officers, 26 federal
criminologist
Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...
s, and 52
CADE agents participated in the operation. These operations were carried out for the Center for the Fight against Corruption of the Goiás Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the Federal Police Superintendency in Goiás State, and for the Superintendency General of the
Administrative Council for Economic Defense The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (in Portuguese, ''Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica'', often referred to as Cade or CADE) is Brazil's national competition regulator and an agency of the government of Brazil. Its stated goa ...
(CADE).
Operation Raider
On 30 June 2016, the Federal Police launched Operation Raider () in conjunction with the Federal Public Prosecutor, investigating a $370 million money laundering organization centered on Governor
Sérgio Cabral (PMDB). Arrested in the operation were , Cláudio Abreu in
Goiás
Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...
and lobbyists and
Marcelo José Abudd. One of the targets, contractor Fernando Cavendish, owner of
Construtora Delta, who had been out of the country, was arrested as he landed at
Aeroporto Internacional Tom Jobim.
The
Attorney General's Office
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a department of His Majesty's Government that supports the Attorney General and their deputy, the Solicitor General (together, the Law officers of the Crown in England and Wales). It is sometimes referred ...
(PGR) stated that the
embezzlement
Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
of public funds by construction company Delta Engenharia in Rio de Janeiro, had the "sponsorship" of the former governor. Between 2007 and 2012, 96.3% of Delta's revenue came from public funds, almost 11 billion reals ($ billion). Of this total, 370 million reals ($ million) were allegedly laundered through eighteen "companies" located at the addresses of a dentist's office, plaster shop, and even a bush at the side of the road. Some addresses did not exist. The scheme involved embezzlement of funds for major public works, such as construction of the
Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre
The Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre ( pt, Parque Aquático Maria Lenk) is an aquatics centre that is part of the City of Sports Complex in the Barra da Tijuca district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is part of the investments made by the city to host t ...
for the
2007 Pan American Games
The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...
and renovation and construction for the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
.
Operation Sepsis
1 July 2016, Federal Police launched Operation Sepsis, another Car Wash spinoff. Money changer , who had ties to
Eduardo Cunha
Eduardo Cosentino da Cunha (born 29 September 1958), is a Brazilian politician and radio host, born in Rio de Janeiro. He was President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil from February 2015 until May 5, 2016, when he was removed from the pos ...
, was arrested in the operation. In all, 19 search and seizure warrants and one pre-trial arrest warrant were fulfilled. The other targets were
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 ...
, one of the partners of
J&F Investimentos
J&F Investimentos SA is a private investment holding company that was founded in 1953 and is based in São Paulo, Brazil. The company is involved in myriad business endeavors, such as agribusiness, manufacturing, marketing and sales, electricit ...
, Eldorado, J&F Investimentos' pulp arm, lobbyist Milton Lira, Cone Multimodal, a multimodal logistics and industrial infrastructure company, and , entrepreneur, co-founder of
Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes
Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A ("Gol Intelligent Airlines S.A." also known as VRG Linhas Aéreas S/A) is a Brazilian low-cost airline based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between ...
(Gol).
Operation Pripyat
On 6 July 2016, Federal Police started Operation Pripyat to dismantle a gang that was active in the Eletronuclear subsidiary of
Eletrobras
Eletrobras (, full name: Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A.) is a major Brazilian electric utilities company. The company's headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro.
It is Latin America's biggest power utility company, tenth largest in the wo ...
responsible for nuclear power generation. One of the main targets of the operation was Vice Admiral , former president of the state-owned company, who served time under house arrest. The other suspects were former employees of the company. By court order, the president of the subsidiary at the time, Pedro Diniz Figueiredo, was removed from office. In all, the police served nine arrest warrants (six preventive and three temporary), nine ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants, and 26 search and seizure warrants in the states of Rio de Janeiro and
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...
. The action was an offshoot of Operation Car Wash that uncovered a corruption scheme in the electricity sector similar to that of Petrobras in the oil sector, and was conducted by the 7th Federal Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro.
Operation Brotherhood
On 10 August 2016, in an offshoot of
Operation Pripyat, the Federal Police launched Operation Brotherhood, which resulted in the arrest of Samir Assad, who was accused, along with his brother and nine others of setting up a ''
caixa 2
''Caixa 2'' ( pt-BR, caixa dois ) is a term used in Brazil to refer to illegal bookkeeping practices that hide financial transactions from authorities.
Tax evasion
''Caixa dois'' methods include failing to issue invoices, or invoicing for a l ...
'' slush fund scheme of contractors that allowed the payment of almost R$178 million ($) in
bribes to managers of
Eletronuclear between 2008 and 2013. The brothers' financial center operated for at least three major contractors,
Andrade Gutierrez
Andrade Gutierrez is a Brazilian private multinational conglomerate headquartered in Belo Horizonte. The company was founded in 1948 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais by the Andrade and Gutierrez families. As of 2013, Andrade Gutierrez is the seco ...
, Delta and
Odebrecht
Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...
, in projects such as the construction of the
Angra III
Angra Nuclear Power Plant is Brazil's only nuclear power plant. It is located at the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto (CNAAA) on the Itaorna Beach in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It consists of two Pressurized water reactors, A ...
nuclear power plant, the renovation of
Maracanã Stadium
Maracanã Stadium ( pt, Estádio do Maracanã, standard Brazilian Portuguese: , local pronunciation: ), officially named Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium is part o ...
for the
2014 World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
and the implementation of the
Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex, in
Itaboraí
Itaboraí (, ) is a city in the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, that belongs to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. It was founded in 1672. In 2020, it had a population of 242,543.
Location
Culturally, its closest municipalities are São ...
. The scheme consisted of issuing counterfeit invoices for services never rendered, to feed a ''
caixa dois
Caixa may refer to:
* a Brazilian snare drum
* ''A Caixa'', a 1994 Portuguese comedy film directed by Manoel de Oliveira
* Caixa Econômica Federal, also referred to as Caixa, a Brazilian bank
* Caixa Geral de Depósitos, also referred to as Caixa ...
'' slush fund for payment of bribes. They had companies such as JSM Engineering and Earthworks, SP Earthworks and Legend, whose sole purpose was to issue and spread the fake invoices.
Operation Deflection
On 5 December 2016, the Federal Police launched , which involved
Vital do Rêgo, the then minister of the
Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU), and
Marco Maia
Marco Aurélio Spall Maia, better known as Marco Maia (born 27 December 1965), is a Brazilian people, Brazilian politician, and the List of Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil from 2010 ...
, federal deputy and former president of the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
. The targets of this new operation were suspected of having negotiated bribes with contractors targeted by the into Petrobras, which was initiated in the
National Congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures .
Political parties
*Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress
*Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana)
*India: Indian National Congress
*Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...
in May 2014. The investigations began when the former leader of the
Dilma government in the
Brazilian Senate
The Federal Senate ( pt, Senado Federal) is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. When created under the Imperial Constitution in 1824, it was based on the House of Lords of the British Parliament, but since the Proclamation ...
,
Delcídio do Amaral
Delcídio do Amaral Gomez (born February 2, 1955) is a Brazilian politician. He worked at Shell and was nominated to Petrobras's Internacional Directory by president Fernando Henrique Cardoso where he worked until 2001 when he left Petrobras and s ...
, revealed in his ''
delação premiada'' that the Parliamentary Investigation Commission was used for fraudulent businesses. According to the investigators, there was evidence that Vital do Rêgo requested R$5 million ($) from contractors for his campaign for governor of
Paraíba
Paraíba ( Tupi: ''pa'ra a'íba''; ) is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba ...
state. Brazilian civil engineering conglomerate donated half of that quantity to the National Directorate of the
Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB), the political party with which the TCU minister was affiliated. The other half was transferred via a "''
caixa 2
''Caixa 2'' ( pt-BR, caixa dois ) is a term used in Brazil to refer to illegal bookkeeping practices that hide financial transactions from authorities.
Tax evasion
''Caixa dois'' methods include failing to issue invoices, or invoicing for a l ...
''"
slush fund
A slush fund is a fund or account that is not properly accounted, such as money used for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitim ...
, to Construtora Planície, which was also targeted by a search and seizure warrant.
Deputy Marco Maia, in his turn, was suspected of having received R$200,000 ($) in cash. Júlio Camarco allegedly delivered the money to an assistant of the former president of the Chamber of Deputies. Besides Delcídio the contractor , of Construtora OAS also denounced Vital do Rêgo and Marco Maia. In October 2016, Pìnheiro's attorney delivered evidence to Judge Sérgio Moro that, in his view, proved that bribes had been paid to Vital.
Operation Out of Control
On 13 December 2016, the Federal Police launched Operation Out of Control ( pt, Operação Descontrole, label=none) which investigated the president of the ( pt, TCE-RJ, label=none), Jonas Lopes de Carvalho, the target of a ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' compulsory appearance warrant. The president's son, Jonas Lopes Júnior, and Jorge Luiz Mendes Pereira da Silva (a.k.a., "Doda"), appointed as Lopes's operator, were also brought in to testify. The
Superior Court of Justice provided the three ''condução coercitiva'' warrants. Federal police officers also served ten search and seizure warrants. Delegations of Andrade Gutierrez executives named Jonas Lopes, showing that he was one of the ones who benefited most by the dual payment scheme in major projects of the Rio de Janeiro government, as revealed by
Operation Calicute. According to the Federal Police, the operation investigated crimes of passive corruption and money laundering.
2017
Operation Cui Bono?
On 13 January 2017, the Federal Police launched Operation "Cui Bono?", an offshoot of
Catiline Orations
The Catilinarian Orations (; also simply the ''Catilinarians'') are a set of speeches to the Roman Senate given in 63 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the year's consuls, accusing a senator, Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline), of leading a p ...
. They found a cell phone at
Eduardo Cunha
Eduardo Cosentino da Cunha (born 29 September 1958), is a Brazilian politician and radio host, born in Rio de Janeiro. He was President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil from February 2015 until May 5, 2016, when he was removed from the pos ...
's home that contained, among other things, messages exchanged between the former deputy and
Geddel Vieira Lima
Geddel Vieira Lima (born 18 March 1959) is a Brazilian politician who served in the Cabinet of Brazil under President Michel Temer until his resignation on 25 November 2016, amid accusations that he and the President had pressured Minister of Cul ...
. Geddel served as Vice President of Corporate Affairs at
Caixa Econômica Federal
Caixa Econômica Federal (, ''Federal Savings Bank''), also referred to as Caixa, is a state-owned Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. It is the fourth largest banking institution in Brazil, as well as the ...
between 2011 and 2013, a period investigated by the Federal Police.
The name of the operation, ''
cui bono
''Cui bono?'' (), in English "to whom is it a benefit?", is a Latin phrase about identifying crime suspects. It expresses the view that crimes are often committed to benefit their perpetrators, especially financially.
Usage
The phrase is a dou ...
'', means, in Latin, "to whose benefit?"
Operation Efficiency
On 26 January 2017, the Federal Police launched an operation
code-named "Efficiency"
() that investigated active and passive corruption, crime syndicates, money laundering, and concealment of approximately 100 million dollars abroad, in an offshoot of
Operation Calicute. Among the targets of the warrants was businessman
Eike Batista
Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva (; born 3 November 1956) is a Brazilian-German serial entrepreneur who made and lost a fortune in mining and oil and gas industries. He engaged in a quest to promote Brazil's infrastructure with large-scale project ...
.
One of the topics of inquiry was the payment of a 16.5 million dollar bribe by
Eike Batista
Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva (; born 3 November 1956) is a Brazilian-German serial entrepreneur who made and lost a fortune in mining and oil and gas industries. He engaged in a quest to promote Brazil's infrastructure with large-scale project ...
and Flávio Godinho (already under arrest) of
EBX Group, to former governor
Sergio Cabral
Sergio may refer to:
* Sergius (name), Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio
* Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found
* Sergio (album), ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass
* Sergio (2009 film), ' ...
of Rio de Janeiro using the Golden Rock account in Panama's TAG Bank. According to the Federal Public Secretary (), the sum was requested by Cabral and Batista in 2010. According to the prosecutors, remittances were sent abroad by Cabral continuously between 2002 and 2007, reaching 6 million dollars. During his administration as governor, he collected more than 100 million reals ($ million) in bribes, distributed among several accounts in banks in
tax havens
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
abroad.
At least eleven other accounts were identified. The Federal Police served search and seizure warrants at about 40 addresses from those already arrested and others who gave testimony, and to companies investigated in that inquiry. According to the Federal Police, the Federal Public Prosecution Service has already repatriated about 270 million reals ($ million), which are available to the Federal Court in an open account at
Caixa Econômica Federal
Caixa Econômica Federal (, ''Federal Savings Bank''), also referred to as Caixa, is a state-owned Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. It is the fourth largest banking institution in Brazil, as well as the ...
. The task force called for international cooperation to freeze and repatriate funds still hidden abroad.
Operation Peddler
On 2 February 2017, the Federal Police conducted Operation Peddler () in conjunction with the Federal Prosecutor. It was an offshoot of Operation Calicute, one of the phases of Operation Car Wash. Ary Ferreira da Costa Filho, former special adviser to
Sérgio Cabral, was arrested on the Presidente Dutra Highway in Rio de Janeiro. At his arrest, he was suspected of fleeing, having been found with three thousand reals ($) and a copy of his US visa.
Operation Leviathan
On 16 February 2017, the Federal Police launched Operation Leviathan ( pt,
Operação Leviatã, label=none) to serve search and seizure warrants in the homes and offices of people being investigated for kickbacks in the construction of the
Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant
Belo may refer to:
Organizations
* Belo Corporation, a United States media company now part of Gannett
* A. H. Belo Corporation, a media company in Dallas, Texas, United States now known as DallasNews Corporation
Places
* Belo, Cameroon, a tow ...
in
Pará
Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...
, based on evidence collected from Operation Car Wash. Among the targets of the operation were the former senator from
Pará
Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...
(
Brazilian Democratic Movement; PMDB) and the son of Senator
Edison Lobão (PMDB-MA), Márcio Lobão. Minister
Luiz Edson 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 ...
issued the warrants for operation Leviathan. The searches were related to an inquiry underway at the Court to investigate payment by the Belo Monte consortium companies of a 1% bribe from the values of the plant's works to the
Workers' Party (PT) and the
Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB). The operation focused on the part of the scheme that passed money on only to the PMDB because the PT's part, not involving persons having ' status, is being processed in the Federal Court of Paraná.
Operation Tolypeutes
On 14 March 2017, the Federal Police launched Operation Tolypeutes against a bribery and money laundering scheme in civil works contracts in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in particular in the construction of the
Rio de Janeiro Metro Line 4. The targets of the operation were Heitor Lopes de Sousa Junior and Luiz Carlos Velloso, who were arrested. The action targeted the payment of bribes on contracts for the metro line. The new phase of Operation Car Wash was opened in conjunction with the
Public Prosecutor's Office and
Federal Revenue. Forty federal police officers served two pre-trial detention warrants, 13 arrest warrants and three ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants issued by the 7th Federal Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro, in the municipalities of Rio and
Sapucaia. Investigations demonstrated the participation of the former Under Secretary of Transport of the
State of Rio de Janeiro and of the director of the Rio de Janeiro Rail Transport Company (Riotrilhos) in the criminal enterprise, which sought out contractors interested in taking on infrastructure construction in the state, who would agree to in order to guarantee being hired for the services.
Operation Satellites
On 21 March 2017, the Federal Police launched Operation Satellite serving fourteen warrants at thirteen addresses in the cities of
Brasilia,
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 ...
,
Recife
That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15)
, image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg
, mapsize = 250px
, map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco
, pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
and
Salvador
Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to:
* Salvador (name)
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
*Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music
** ''Salvador'' ( ...
. The objective was to investigate evidence of active and passive corruption and money laundering crimes involving nonpolitical targets, but linked to senators
Renan Calheiros
José Renan Vasconcelos Calheiros (; born 16 September 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former President of the Senate of Brazil. He has represented the state of Alagoas in the senate as a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party si ...
(
Brazilian Democratic Movement-
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 ...
),
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
president
Eunício Oliveira
Eunício Lopes de Oliveira (born 30 September 1952) is a Brazilian politician and businessman. He has represented Ceará in the Federal Senate since 2011 and became president of the Senate of Brazil on 1 February 2017. Previously, he was a feder ...
(Brazilian Democratic Movement-
Ceará
Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...
),
Valdir Raupp
Valdir Raupp (born August 24, 1955) is a Brazilian politician. He has represented Rondônia in the Federal Senate since 2003. Previously, he was Governor of Rondônia from 1995 to 1999. He is a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party
...
(Brazilian Democratic Movement-
Rondônia
Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...
) and
Humberto Costa (
Workers' Party-
Pernambuco
Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...
). It was the first time information from the
Odebrecht plea bargain agreement was used. This is the which investigated the involvement of people with ' status, before 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 ...
.
Operation Fifth of Gold
On 29 March 2017, the Federal Police launched Operation pt, O Quinto do Ouro, label=none ("The Fifth of Gold") targeting the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Auditors. The ''
delação premiada'' (literally, "rewarded whistleblowing" or, "informing") of former chairman Jonas Lopes de Carvalho Junior led to action against five board members in at least two
kickback schemes to turn a blind eye to irregularities committed by contractors and bus companies operating in the state. Aloysio Neves (current president) was the target of pre-trial detention; as were , , Marco Antonio Alencar, son of former governor of Rio de Janeiro and former mayor of Rio de Janeiro
Marcello Alencar
Marcello Nunes de Alencar (August 23, 1925 – June 10, 2014) was a Brazilian politician and lawyer. Alencar served as the Governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro from 1995 until 1999, as well as two tenures as Mayor of Rio de Janeiro from 1983 t ...
, and José Maurício Nolasco. The president of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj), Jorge Picciani (
Brazilian Democratic Movement;
MDB MDB may refer to:
Computing
* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases
* MDB, a kernel debugger for the Linux kernel.
* MDB, the NASDAQ ticker symbol for MongoDB, a database management system.
* Message Drive ...
), was already the target of a ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrant. Besides the assistance provided to the investigation via the ''delação premiada'' plea agreement of ex-president of the Rio TCE, the operation was supported by another ''delação premiada'' with his son; the two plea agreements having been recently approved by the minister of the
Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Felix Fischer, who authorized the arrest warrants and ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants. According to the accusation of one of the counselors, the state president and deputy of the
Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro
The Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro ( pt, Assembleia Legislativa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro or ''ALERJ'') is the unicameral legislature of Rio de Janeiro, a state in Brazil. It has 70 state deputies elected by proportional representation ...
,
Jorge Picciani
Jorge Sayed Picciani (March 25, 1955 – May 14, 2021) was a Brazilian cattle rancher and politician, affiliated with the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB). He was preventively arrested at the José Frederico Marques Public Prison, in Benfica, ...
(MDB), is suspected of organizing payments to the five TCE advisers arrested in the operation. Members of the Court received 15% of the amounts released by the court's Modernization Fund for payment of overdue bills from food providers for inmates and adolescents undergoing detention measures. Picciani also organized 's payment of illicit amounts to the TCE to favor transport companies in court oversight.
Operation Exposed Invoice
On 11 April 2017, the Federal Police launched Operation Exposed Invoice (), which placed the former Secretary of Health of the State of Rio de Janeiro under arrest, accused of involvement in the millionaire corruption scheme run by the former state governor
Sérgio Cabral. The scheme revealed involved fraud at both the State Health Secretariat and the (INTO), of which Côrtes was director, with the directing of bids in exchange for payment of bribes. In addition to the former secretary, two businessmen accused of involvement in the scandal were also arrested. The Federal Police reported that a total of three warrants for pre-trial detention, 20 warrants for search and seizure and three for ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants, by the 7th Federal Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro and that those involved will be held accountable for passive and active corruption, money laundering and criminal organization. The operation had the collaboration of a whistleblower who worked with Côrtes in the respective bodies of the Health Department and that the deviations could reach 37 million reals ($ million).
Operation Satellites 2
On 27 April 2017, the Federal Police launched the second phase of
Operation Satellites, which targeted people linked to politicians who were under investigation by 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 ...
. (STF). The action only served search and seizure warrants and was supported by information from the
Odebrecht–Car Wash plea bargain agreements. One of the targets of the Federal Police action was attorney Bruno Mendes, linked to Senator
Renan Calheiros
José Renan Vasconcelos Calheiros (; born 16 September 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former President of the Senate of Brazil. He has represented the state of Alagoas in the senate as a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party si ...
(
Brazilian Democratic Movement). The Mendes law practice was subjected to search and seizure warrants. Moreover, the investigations highlighted the trafficking practiced by characters surrounding other politicians of the
Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB) in Alagoas, Tocantins, Maranhão, Rio Grande do Norte, Sergipe and Roraima. Among the targets was attorney Amaury Cezar Piccolo, identified as being close to
José Sarney
José Sarney de Araújo Costa (; born José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa; 24 April 1930) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and writer who served as 31st president of Brazil from 1985 to 1990. He briefly served as the 20th vice president of ...
. People connected to
Romero Jucá
Romero Jucá Filho (; born 30 November 1954) is a Brazilian politician and economist. He represented Roraima in the Federal Senate for 24 years, from 1995 to 2019. Previously, he was governor of Roraima from 1988 to 1990.Romero Jucá: Índio n ...
and
Garibaldi Alves
Garibaldi Alves (27 May 1923 – 7 April 2022) was a Brazilian politician. He represented Rio Grande do Norte in the Brazilian Senate, Federal Senate from 2011 to 2014. Previously, he was vice-governor of Rio Grande do Norte from 1987 to 1991. H ...
were also on the list of judicial warrants served earlier.
Operation Patmos
On 18 May 2017, the Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecution Service carried out search and seizure warrants at properties linked to Senator
Aécio Neves in Rio de Janeiro, the Federal District and
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
, and at his office in Congress. The agents also served an arrest warrant for his sister, Andrea Neves, at her home. The warrants were issued by Minister
Edson Fachin
Luiz Edson Fachin (born 8 February 1958) is a Brazilian jurist and lawyer. On June 16, 2015, he became a justice of the Supreme Federal Court. Before that, he was a professor of civil law of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR).
See also
*O ...
as a result of testimony given by brothers
Joesley and
Wesley Batista
Wesley Mendonça Batista (born 8 December 1972) is a Brazilian billionaire businessman, and founder of JBS S.A. Batista was the president of the JBS group and was responsible for the implementation of JBS operations in the US since the acquisit ...
, owners of
JBS S.A.
JBS S.A. is a Brazilian company that is the largest meat processing company (by sales) in the world, producing factory processed beef, chicken and pork, and also selling by-products from the processing of these meats. It is headquartered in São ...
, in return for prosecutorial leniency. Fachin also ordered the senator's seat in the Senate revoked. The operation served a warrant of pre-trial detention against
Eduardo Cunha
Eduardo Cosentino da Cunha (born 29 September 1958), is a Brazilian politician and radio host, born in Rio de Janeiro. He was President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil from February 2015 until May 5, 2016, when he was removed from the pos ...
(PMDB-RJ), in the Medical-Penal Complex (CMP) in
Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
where he is serving a sentence for his conviction in
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
.
In 2017 Aécio appeared again in other whistle-blowing agreements. The executives said JBS paid Neves 80 million reals ($ million) in illegal campaign funding as well as two million more recently to support a new "abuse of authority" law to make it easier for suspects and defendants to sue investigators, prosecutors and judges. Neves was recorded asking for the 2 million reals ($ million) from Joesley Batista, chairman of meatpacking company JBS SA. Batista told the authorities that Neves implied that the money would be used to pay for his defence in the Lava Jato (Carwash) investigations but the money never went to his lawyers. Instead, part of the money, received by the senator's cousin, ended up in a company owned by
Zezé Perrella
José Perrella de Oliveira Costa (February 22, 1956), better known as Zezé Perrella, is a Brazilian politician, businessman and former president of the Brazilian football (soccer) team Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
Career
Beginning
Perrella was the ...
, an old friend of Aécio who was also implicated in the biggest drug traffic scandal in Brazilian History.
Operation Back on Track
On 25 May 2017, the Federal Police and the Federal Public Ministry launched an operation, called Back on Track (), against money laundering involving bribes in the construction of the . According to the authorities, the operation has carried out two temporary arrests, seven search and seizure warrants and four ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants in
Goiás
Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...
and
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP.
Neighboring ...
. The operation was based on agreements between the Public Ministry and the civil engineering conglomerates Camargo Corrêa and Andrade Gutierrez, who admitted they paid bribes to Juquinha das Nevez, former president of Valec. Furthermore, the operation was based on investigations by the Federal Police, which discovered the identification and location of part of the illicit assets kept hidden in the name of others.
Operation Ratatouille
On 1 June 2017, Federal Police agents arrested businessman Marco Antônio de Luca, linked to the food companies "Masan", and "Milano", which belong to the same family group and are among the main suppliers of food and snacks to the State of Rio de Janeiro. Search and seizure warrants were also served at several addresses in another offshoot of Operation Car Wash in the state. Masan had several food supply contracts with the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro and received about R$700 million ($ million) over the previous ten years. During the current governor's administration alone
Luiz Fernando Pezão the amount reached R$200 million ($ million). According to investigations, Marco de Luca paid at least R$12.5 million ($ million) in kickbacks to the criminal organization led by Cabral to win these contracts. Hospital, school and prison feeding contracts were investigated. MPF said it would also investigate the
Rio-2016 Organizing Committee and its contracts with Masan. Rio-2016 signed at least six contracts with the company in the areas of conservation, cleaning, waste management, food and hospitality.
Operation Hidden Figure
On 1 June 2017, the
Federal Police carried out Operation Hidden Figure, to investigate electoral crimes and money laundering during the
2012 campaign of
Fernando Haddad for Mayor of São Paulo. It is one of the offshoots of
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
, which began in 2015, after the Supreme Federal Court the plea deal () of executives of the company . The inquest examined the payment of debts by the contractor related to one of the slates of candidates in the campaign for the 2012 São Paulo municipal elections, regarding graphic services in the amount of R$2.6 million ($ thousand). According to the Police, the debt was allegedly paid through a money exchanger () in bank transfers and cash, to companies. A company mentioned in the list appears as a service provider, with reported amounts of R$354,450 ($). However, in the accountability to
Superior Electoral Court (TSE), another contract for provision of graphic services amounted to R$252,900 ($), amounts well below the sum of R$2,600,000 ($), which were allegedly paid by contractor UTC Engineering to the printers.
Operation Manus
On 6 June 2017, the
Federal Police arrested former Minister of Tourism
Henrique Eduardo Alves
Henrique Eduardo Lyra Alves (born December 9, 1948) is a Brazilian politician. A member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party
The Brazilian Democratic Movement ( pt, Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. ...
. Former Deputy
Eduardo Cunha
Eduardo Cosentino da Cunha (born 29 September 1958), is a Brazilian politician and radio host, born in Rio de Janeiro. He was President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil from February 2015 until May 5, 2016, when he was removed from the pos ...
, already in prison in
Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
, was the target of a new warrant. Both men are from the PMDB and had been president of the Chamber of Deputies. The operation investigated active and passive corruption and
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
in the construction of
Arena das Dunas
The Arena das Dunas (" Dunes Arena") is a football stadium in Natal, Brazil. The arena can shelter 31,375 spectators, and was designed by sports architect Christopher Lee of Populous. The stadium hosted football matches for the 2014 FIFA World ...
in
Natal, Rio Grande do Norte
Natal ( ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in northeastern Brazil. According to IBGE's 2021 estimate, the city had a total population o896,708 making it the 19th largest city in the country. Natal is a ...
with a surcharge that reached $77 million. Thirty-three warrants were served, five for pre-trial detention, six ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants and 22 for search and seizure in
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", ref ...
and
Paraná. According to the Federal Police, bribes were identified through official donations between 2012 and 2014, as well as donations to the 2014 campaign for personal benefit.
Operation Baron Crook
On 8 June 2017, the
Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro State
The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro State (''Polícia Civil do Estado do Rio de Janeiro'', in Portuguese) is the police force responsible for criminal investigations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formed in 1808, it is subordinated to the state govern ...
(PCERJ) performed a major operation to investigate crimes of corruption and money laundering in the regional power utility
Eletrobrás Furnas
Eletrobras Furnas (Furnas – Centrais Elétricas SA) is a regional power utility and a major subsidiary of Eletrobras. The company generates or transmits electricity to 51% of households in Brazil and more than 40% of the nation's electricity pass ...
. Twenty-five search and seizure warrants were served at the company's headquarters in Botafogo and at other addresses involving management positions at companies contracted by the utility. Another eight search and seizure warrants were served in São Paulo. In addition, there were two ''
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrants, one of which was against former director Dimas Fernando Toledo. The operation is an offshoot of Operation Car Wash which grew out of the report of
Delcídio Amaral. In Rio de Janeiro, the operation was coordinated by the Finance Police (), with the support of fifteen specialized precincts of the DGPE, the Anticorruption Coordination Unit of the Laboratory for Technology and Money Laundering of PCERJ, and the .
Operation End Point
On 3 July 2017, a new operation (End Point; ) served nine pre-trial and three temporary arrest warrants, as well as 30 search and seizure warrants against the Rio de Janeiro state road transport leadership. The action was based on the depositions, in return for sentence reduction, of former State Court of Justice Jonas Lopes de Carvalho Filho, and money changer and operator Álvaro Novis from Operation Efficiency. Lopes had been sentenced to seven years of house arrest, community service and probation as part of
Operation Fifth of Gold, in which five of seven ministers of the (TCE) were charged with corruption.
The operation investigated bribes from bus entrepreneurs to politicians and transport inspectors in Rio de Janeiro, pointing out that former governor
Sérgio Cabral received $122.85 million through his right hand operative, . On 13 June 2017, he was sentenced to 14 years and two months of imprisonment for passive corruption and money laundering. On 20 September 2017 he was sentenced to an additional 45 years imprisonment for embezzlement. In total, around R$260 million were paid in bribes in exchange for benefits to bus companies, such as approval for "fare adjustments".
Also arrested were Lélis Teixeira, president of the Federation of Passenger Transport Companies of the State of Rio de Janeiro (), Rogério Onofre, former president of the Department of Road Transport of Rio de Janeiro (DETRO) and the entrepreneur heading the , . Known as "King of the Bus", Barata, one of Rio de Janeiro's biggest bus operators, was arrested at
Tom Jobim International Airport
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
as he tried to board a plane to Lisbon.
Onofre was released in August 2017 by Gilmar Mendes. Bretas arrested him again and he spent 14 months in jail until his release by Bretas in September 2018 with an ankle monitor and instructions not to leave
Paraíba do Sul
The Paraíba do Sul (), or simply termed Paraíba, is a river in southeast Brazil. It flows west to northeast from its farthest source at the source of the river Paraitinga to the sea near Campos dos Goytacazes. The river receives its name when ...
, where he was mayor.
In total, the action resulted in the arrest of 10 people linked to public transport in the state for embezzling about R$500 million at the behest of the former governor.
On 5 July 2017, PF agents served one
condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
warrant and three for search and seizure.
[
]
Operation Rio 40 Degrees
On 3 August 2017, the Federal Police carried out a new operation called Rio 40 Degrees that resulted in the arrest of Alexandre Pinto, former municipal Secretary of Public Works for the city of Rio de Janeiro in the administration of Eduardo Paes. The agents served ten arrest warrants, nine of which were in Rio de Janeiro and one in Pernambuco, where the arrest of Laudo Aparecido Dalla Costa Ziani, son-in-law of the former deputy , was confirmed. There was also a ''condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrant in São Paulo. This new phase of Car Wash reached city hall through contract investigations in the administration of Paes. The MPF prosecutors are based on the corruption complaint against the contractor Carioca Engenharia, involving payment of kickbacks and diversion of funds in the construction of the bus corridor Transcarioca, which cost R$2 billion ($ million), and the drainage of streams in the Basin of Jacarepaguá
Jacarepaguá (), with a land area of , is a neighborhood situated in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2010, it had a population of 157,326. The name comes from the indigenous name of the location, "shallow pond of caymans", yakaré (c ...
. The operation reached Rio City Hall because it began to investigate not only the criminal organization that, according to investigators, was headed by former governor Sérgio Cabral, but also the criminal organization that had links with the Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB) throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro. Among the targets of the action were lobbyists and city hall inspectors responsible for the construction. This was the first time that the Rio branch of the Operation Car Wash investigations reached the municipal sector.
Operation Gotham City
On 9 August 2017, the Federal Police carried out a new operation, in an offshoot of Operation End Point, to arrest two construction entrepreneurs suspected of hiding the assets of the former president of the Rio de Janeiro Department of Road Transport, Rogério Onofre. He was accused of receiving R$43 million ($) from bus entrepreneurs. Businessman Nuno Coelho, known as "Batman", was arrested in Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
. Guilherme Vialle, "Robin", was already abroad and featured in an Interpol red notice
An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...
. Both are partners of VCG Empreendimentos Imobiliários and Koios Participações. According to the investigations, Onofre and his wife, Dayse Neves, bought 11 properties that belonged to the businessmen, but declared only 50% of the real cost of the acquisitions in the registry.
Operation Unfair Play
On 5 September 2017, the Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecution Service carried out an operation to investigate a vote-buying scheme for the election of Rio de Janeiro as host of the 2016 Olympic Games
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...
. The operation involved bribes for Rio de Janeiro government contracts. Two preventive arrest warrants and eleven search and seizure warrants were served in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Iguaçu
Nova Iguaçu (, locally: or , ''New Iguaçu'') is a municipality in Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil.
Location
The city is named after the Iguaçu River that runs through it and empties into Guanabara Bay (not to be confused with the Iguaçu Ri ...
(RJ) and Paris, France. The operation involved international cooperation with France and the United States. One of the targets of search and seizure was the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee
The Brazilian Olympic Committee or BOC ( pt, Comitê Olímpico do Brasil – COB) is the highest authority in Brazilian sport and the governing body of Brazilian Olympic sport. It was officially founded on June 8, 1914, but World War I cause ...
(COB), Carlos Arthur Nuzman
Carlos Arthur Nuzman (born 17 March 1942) is a Brazilian lawyer and former volleyball player, having competed professionally from 1957 to 1972 and represented the national team between 1962 and 1968. Nuzman was part of the first Brazilian male ...
, investigated for allegedly paying a bribe of US$1.5 million. Bribes were paid in cash, dummy contracts, personal expenses, and money transfer. Those arrested were investigated for corruption, money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
and organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
.
On 5 October, in the second phase of Operation Unfair Play, Nuzman was arrested by the Federal Police. According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office (MPF), Nuzman attempted to regularize 16 one-kilo gold bars after the first phase of the operation. Also according to the MPF, over ten years Nuzman's equity grew 457 percent, part of this money going to an offshore tax haven in the British Virgin Islands
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = Territorial song
, song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands"
, image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg
, map_caption =
, mapsize = 290px
, image_map2 = Brit ...
. Lawyer Nélio Machado, who represents Nuzman, said the arrest "is a harsh measure and is not usual within due process."
Operation Lost Treasure
On 5 September 2017, Federal Police carried out the Lost Treasure Operation. It represented the second phase of Cui Bono?, which was an offshoot of Catiline Orations
The Catilinarian Orations (; also simply the ''Catilinarians'') are a set of speeches to the Roman Senate given in 63 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the year's consuls, accusing a senator, Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline), of leading a p ...
. The target of the operation was an apartment connected to Geddel Vieira Lima
Geddel Vieira Lima (born 18 March 1959) is a Brazilian politician who served in the Cabinet of Brazil under President Michel Temer until his resignation on 25 November 2016, amid accusations that he and the President had pressured Minister of Cul ...
. In the operation more than 51 million reals ($ million) were seized in bags and boxes.
The operation was authorized by federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level.
United States
A US federal judge is appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate in accordance with Article 3 of ...
, who commands Operation Lava Jato in the Federal District
A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...
. The Federal Police used seven machines to count the money and it took fourteen hours to complete the count.
It was the biggest cash seizure in the history of the country.
Operation Old Prison
On 14 November 2017, a new operation resulted in the issuing of a ''condução coercitiva
''Condução coercitiva'' is a Brazilian judicial mandate or summons, which provides for a compulsory method of bringing subjects of a judicial process, victims, witnesses, accused parties, or expert subjects into the presence of law enforcem ...
'' warrant to state congressman Jorge Picciani
Jorge Sayed Picciani (March 25, 1955 – May 14, 2021) was a Brazilian cattle rancher and politician, affiliated with the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB). He was preventively arrested at the José Frederico Marques Public Prison, in Benfica, ...
, president of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro
The Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro ( pt, Assembleia Legislativa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro or ''ALERJ'') is the unicameral legislature of Rio de Janeiro, a state in Brazil. It has 70 state deputies elected by proportional representation ...
(Alerj). His arrest was decreed by the criminal section of the Federal Regional Court on 16 November 2017, for using his presidency of the Assembly for the practice of corruption, criminal association, money laundering and tax evasion. In concert with and Paulo Melo, he is suspected of favoring the interests of businessmen in the state, including representatives of the public transport sector and contractors, in exchange for a bribe.
Operation C'est fini
On 23 November 2017, in a new offshoot of Operation Car Wash, Federal Police agents in Rio arrested former secretary of the Rio de Janeiro State Civil House , suspected of receiving at least $R1.6 million in bribes He was arrested during Operation C'est fini, accused of receiving 1.6 million reals ($) of bribes linked to the former Rio Governor's corruption schemes. Businessmen and engineers linked to the organization of former governor Sérgio Cabral were also arrested in the operation. Investigations indicated that, while commanding the secretary of the Civil House, Fitchtner Velasco authorized the validation of court orders as a way to offset (ICMS) debts to state debtors. He was allegedly also active in buying bonded securities that were awaiting payment, so that he profited from the premium paid by those who preferred cash before the lawsuit ended.
Operation Baixo Augusta
On 11 December 2017, the Federal Government, the MPF and the Internal Revenue Service launched operation Baixo Augusta to investigate the payment of R$160 million ($ million) in bribes to a tax auditor over 14 years to speed up the release of R$2 billion ($ million) in tax credits to the meat-processing giant JBS S.A.
JBS S.A. is a Brazilian company that is the largest meat processing company (by sales) in the world, producing factory processed beef, chicken and pork, and also selling by-products from the processing of these meats. It is headquartered in São ...
, wholly owned by brothers 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 ...
and Wesley Batista
Wesley Mendonça Batista (born 8 December 1972) is a Brazilian billionaire businessman, and founder of JBS S.A. Batista was the president of the JBS group and was responsible for the implementation of JBS operations in the US since the acquisit ...
. The auditor was and eight individuals and companies had their assets frozen on suspicion of involvement in the scheme. In all, 14 search and seizure warrants were served in the operation. Investigations showed that the tax auditor received large amounts of money to illicitly expedite the release of funds that the company allegedly received from the Department of Federal Revenue as tax credits. According to the Federal Police, there are indications that the corruption scheme went on for more than a decade, from 2004 to 2017, and transactions took place via front companies and the issuance of fake receipts.
2018
Operation Jabuti
On 23 February 2018, Rio de Janeiro's Federal Police and the Federal Public Ministry arrested Orlando Diniz, president of the Rio de Janeiro State Trade Federation (National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism; Fecomercio-RJ). He was arrested on suspicion of money laundering, corruption and membership in a criminal organization. Among the irregularities investigated was the hiring of phantom employees by Sesc and Senac, who received salaries from the firms. The exact number of phantom employees was not yet known, and at least one of them was formally linked to the Sesc/Senac payroll until 2017. According to the investigation, the phantom hires were made at the request of Sérgio Cabral and helped the former governor to increase the kickback that was regularly distributed to his closest operators and his relatives, in a scheme that moved more than R$7.5 million ($ million). The president of Fecomercio-RJ also spent R$180 million ($ million) over four years with law firms on contracts that circumvented the technical and transparency standards of the agencies under his responsibility. The suspicion is that he used public money to defend himself and remain in control of these firms.
Operation Descarte
On 1 March 2018, the Federal Police and Department of Federal Revenue served search and seizure warrants in an operation that was an offshoot of Operation Car Wash in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The goal of the new operation was to dismantle a scheme of criminal money laundering and embezzlement of funds paid by municipal governments for street cleaning. According to Federal Revenue, the criminal organization issued more than R$900 million ($) in invoices with indications of fraud. The police stated that the companies participating in the scheme simulated the sale of goods to the customer of the laundering "service", which then paid for non-existent products via bank transfers or slips (to give the appearance of legality to the acquisition). The sums received were transferred to several other shell companies that remitted the amounts abroad or made transfers to persons connected with the initial customer. In total, according to the police, more than R$120 million ($) was passed on to as yet unidentified third parties. The investigation grew out of the denunciation of black market money changer Alberto Youssef. The warrants were issued by the 2nd Federal Criminal Court.
Operation Our Bread
On 13 March 2018, the Federal and State Public Prosecution Service of Rio de Janeiro carried out a new operation against corruption in the Rio penitentiary system, which grew out of Operation Calicute, a version of Operation Car Wash in the State of Rio de Janeiro. The operation resulted in the arrest of Deputy Marcelo Luiz Santos Martins, director of the General Department of Specialized Police in Rio, and Military Police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
Colonel , former (Seap). Under the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the operation served fourteen arrest warrants (nine temporary and five preventive); at the state level, there were nine arrests (with names repeated in both). The targets of the investigation were accused of being part of a criminal organization that rigged food supply contracts (take-out, breakfast, and snacks) for at least six years (2009–2014) for the state's more than 50,000 prisoners, always keeping the same suppliers, who shared in the profits of the scheme. The contracts totaled R$72 million ($) during that period.
Operation Skala
On 29 March 2018, the Federal Police in São Paulo arrested the lawyer , friend and former advisor of President Michel Temer
Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...
and, in Monte Alegre do Sul
Monte Alegre do Sul is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with ov ...
(SP), the businessman Antonio Celso Greco, owner of the company , which operates in Port of Santos. The prisons are part of the operation launched in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Also arrested in the same operation was the former Minister of Agriculture and former Federal Deputy , who was the CEO of the , which administered the port. Yunes was named by financial operator , whistle-blower for Operation Car Wash, as one of those responsible for handling bribes allegedly paid to the president. According to Funaro, to launder the money and disguise the origin, Yunes invested illicit funds with his real estate developer. The operation was authorized by 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 ...
Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, rapporteur of the inquiry investigating whether Temer accepted bribes in order to benefit companies in the port sector.
Operation against ex-director of Dersa
On 6 April 2018, the Federal Police served preventive arrest warrants against Paulo Vieira de Souza, Paulo Preto, former Brazilian Social Democracy Party
The Brazilian Social Democracy Party ( pt, Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB), also known as the Brazilian Social Democratic Party or the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy,. is a political party in Brazil
Brazil has a multi-pa ...
(PSDB) operative and former director of the Department of Road Development SA (Dersa), who was charged with misappropriation of funds, in kind and in real estate. The MP denounced Paulo Preto for crimes of racketeering, embezzlement and insertion of false data in the public information system. The former director had already been cited by whistle blowers as a possible PSDB kickback operative in the state of São Paulo. According to the complaint, Souza and the others investigated diverted 7.7 million reals ($ million) from the Dersa coffers, money intended for families displaced due to construction done in the state between 2009 and 2011. The governors of São Paulo at the time were: José Serra (2007 to 2010), Alberto Goldman (2010) and Geraldo Alckmin (since 2011). Paulo Preto led Dersa between 2007 and 2010.
Operation Instant Replay
On 10 April 2018, the Federal Police launched a new operation that investigated payments of "undue advantage" by a business group to politicians. Judicial warrants were served in São Paulo, Goiânia
Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...
, and Fortaleza
Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...
. The operation was launched by the ex-director of institutional relations of Hypermarcas
Hypera Pharma (formerly known as Hypermarcas) is a Brazilian multinational pharmaceutical
company headquartered in São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the stat ...
Nelson Melo in Operation Car Wash. In it, Melo said he gave R$5 million ($) to the campaign of the Senate President, Eunício Oliveira
Eunício Lopes de Oliveira (born 30 September 1952) is a Brazilian politician and businessman. He has represented Ceará in the Federal Senate since 2011 and became president of the Senate of Brazil on 1 February 2017. Previously, he was a feder ...
(MDB MDB may refer to:
Computing
* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases
* MDB, a kernel debugger for the Linux kernel.
* MDB, the NASDAQ ticker symbol for MongoDB, a database management system.
* Message Drive ...
- CE), to the Ceará
Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...
government in 2014, through fictitious contracts. It is suspected that the politician committed the crimes of passive corruption and money laundering. Beyond just this denunciation, the investigators based their actions on the revelations made by a businesswoman from Salvador, wife of the marketer of the Eunício Oliveira
Eunício Lopes de Oliveira (born 30 September 1952) is a Brazilian politician and businessman. He has represented Ceará in the Federal Senate since 2011 and became president of the Senate of Brazil on 1 February 2017. Previously, he was a feder ...
campaign in 2014. She confessed that at her husband's request, she received money without performing any service. The appeals were passed on not only by Hypermarcas and JBS S.A.
JBS S.A. is a Brazilian company that is the largest meat processing company (by sales) in the world, producing factory processed beef, chicken and pork, and also selling by-products from the processing of these meats. It is headquartered in São ...
, who already admitted the irregularities to the Public Prosecution Service, but also by the Ceará company M. Dias Branco
M. Dias Branco S.A. is a Brazilian multinational company that manufactures, markets and distributes biscuit, pasta, cakes, snacks, wheat flour, margarine and vegetable shortening throughout Brazil, headquartered in the city of Eusébio, Ceará.
...
.
Operation Rhizome
On 12 April 2018, agents of the Federal Police and the Federal Public Ministry arrested businessman Arthur Mário Pinheiro Machado in an operation that investigated pension fund fraud. In all, the officers served 10 pre-trial detention and 21 arrest warrants in Rio, Sao Paulo and Brasilia against suspects of defrauding the pension funds Postalis (of the Post Office) and the Federal Data Processing Service ('' Serpro''). According to the investigation, the funds sent money to companies abroad to pay for non-existent services. The money was scattered among different dollar accounts and then returned to Brazil for bribes. The scheme worked through two black marketeers of the former governor Sérgio Cabral, who helped bring cash back into the country. Another arrested trader was Milton Lyra, who is named in several investigations as an MDB operator in the Senate and in various schemes.
The operation investigates money laundering, currency evasion and corruption crimes through fraud that has caused major damage to funds.
It is an outgrowth of operations Efficiency
Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time in doing something or in producing a desired result. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without ...
and Unfair Play
Law 41 of the Laws of Cricket covers unfair play. This law has developed and expanded over time as various incidents of real life unfair play have been legislated against.
The first section of Law 41 makes clear that the captains of the two te ...
.
Operation against Progressive Party federal legislators
On 24 April 2018, the Federal Police served a warrant to search the offices and also the executive apartments () of Representative . (Progressive Party (PP)-Pernambuco
Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...
) and senator Ciro Nogueira
Ciro Nogueira Lima Filho (born 21 November 1968) is a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, politician, and a member of the Progressistas (PP) party, of which he is the current president. He has represented Piauí in the Federal Senate since 2011. Prev ...
(PP-Piauí
Piaui (, ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP.
Piaui has the shortest coastline of any coastal Brazilian state at 66&n ...
), national president of the Progressive Party. The warrant was authorized by Minister Edson Fachin
Luiz Edson Fachin (born 8 February 1958) is a Brazilian jurist and lawyer. On June 16, 2015, he became a justice of the Supreme Federal Court. Before that, he was a professor of civil law of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR).
See also
*O ...
, rapporteur of the Car Wash cases in the STF. The operation was launched in conjunction with 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 ...
. The police also served a warrant of arrest against former deputy of Roraima
Roraima (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas ...
, who was arrested in Brasilia. The investigations revealed an attempt by congressmen to buy the silence of a former adviser to the senator who had been collaborating with the judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
. The advisor detailed that he received the payment in cash, and was passed the money by the former deputy. According to investigators, the former advisor was in collaboration with several investigations in connection with Operation Car Wash, and was allegedly threatened with death. Due to the threats, he was included in the witness protection program. The Police served eight search and seizure warrants, all at addresses linked to the three targets of the operation.
Operation Over and out
On 3 May 2018, a new operation code-named "Operation Over and out" () served 49 pre-trial (preventive detention) and four temporary arrest warrants in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, and the Federal District, as well as Paraguay and Uruguay. The main target was Darío Messer, who has been called the most influential money changer in the country. Messer is also a Paraguayan citizen. The operation was supported by Uruguayan authorities and aimed to dismantle a money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
, currency evasion and organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
network. The suspects were part of a system called Bank Drop, in which moneymakers remitted funds abroad through illegal dollar wire transfers known as , a method in which money does not pass through central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union,
and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
-regulated financial institutions. According to police, some 3,000 offshore companies
The term "offshore company" or “offshore corporation” is used in at least two distinct and different ways. An offshore company may be a reference to:
* a company, group or sometimes a division thereof, which engages in offshoring business pro ...
in 52 tax haven countries handled about $1.6 billion (or $5.6 billion by 2018).
Operation Stone in the way
On 21 June 2018, the Federal Police carried out a new operation in São Paulo with an investigation that found irregularities in construction of the northern section of the ring road
A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...
, from the conclusion of contractual additions and consequent increases to the total cost. According to the (MPF) and estimates by the Federal Court of Accounts
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
(TCU) pointed to an overrun of more than 600 million reals ($ million) in the cost of the construction. Of the 15 temporary arrest warrants in the Federal Police lawsuit, one targeted Laurence Lourenço Casagrande, former president of and former secretary of logistics and transport under the former governor Geraldo Alckmin
Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho (; born 7 November 1952) is a Brazilian politician who is the vice president-elect of Brazil. He previously served as the Governor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2011 to 2018, the long ...
(PSDB
The Brazilian Social Democracy Party ( pt, Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB), also known as the Brazilian Social Democratic Party or the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy,. is a political party in Brazil. As the third largest par ...
), and current president of the Companhia Energética de São Paulo (Cesp), a state government power company for São Paulo State. Lourenço was already investigated for these additions and also by the irregular subcontracting of other companies. The judge held him preventively at prosecutors' request. In addition, other targets of the operation included other former directors of Dersa, construction companies and , companies responsible for the construction, and contract managers under suspicion. In addition to the arrest warrants, 51 search and seizure orders were served.
Operation Resonance
On 4 July 2018, in an offshoot of Operation Exposed Invoice regarding a corruption scheme in Rio's public health system, the Car Wash task force returned to the streets to arrest businessman Miguel Iskin, his partner Gustavo Estellita and 20 other people, in addition to the search and seizure executed at 44 addresses in Rio, São Paulo, Paraíba
Paraíba ( Tupi: ''pa'ra a'íba''; ) is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba ...
, Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
and the Federal District. They also decreed the freezing of the assets of those under investigation in the amount of R$1.2 billion }), whose parallel compensation system reconciled the interests of clients of different black market money changers (transactions were made beyond the reach of authorities in order to launder income from corruption, tax evasion and other crimes). Among the targets of the operation were managing partners who buy precious stones from gold mines in Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
and export them to Indian businessmen using fake invoices and bills of sale.
2019
Operation Decontamination
Operation Decontamination is a of operations Radioactivity, Pripyat, and Brotherhood
Brotherhood or The Brotherhood may refer to:
Family, relationships, and organizations
* Fraternity (philosophy) or brotherhood, an ethical relationship between people, which is based on love and solidarity
* Fraternity or brotherhood, a mal ...
of the Car Wash investigation. It was launched on 21 March 2019 by Federal Police, which investigated crimes of corruption, embezzlement () and money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
.
It focused on investigating diversion of funds on the order of 1.8 billion reals ($ million) in the Angra 3 nuclear power plant construction project.
The break-up is the result of an investigation that began under the auspices of the Attorney General's Office during the time when Michel Temer
Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...
was still president. After finishing his term and losing his status, the dossier was then sent to the Car Wash task force, which is based in Rio de Janeiro.
This operation led to, among other things, the arrest of Temer.
Operation Patron
Federal police announced Operation Patron on 19 November 2019. Thirty-seven court orders were issued by the 7th Federal Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro, in the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Armação dos Búzios
Armação dos Búzios (, ), often referred to as just Búzios, is a resort town and a municipality located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is 173 km east of the city of Rio de Janeiro. By 2020, its population consisted of 34,477 i ...
, Greater Sao Paulo and in Ponta Pora, Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso do Sul () is one of the Midwestern states of Brazil. Neighboring Brazilian states are (from north clockwise) Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay, to the southwest, and ...
. Because some targets lived in Paraguay and the United States of America an Interpol red notice
An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...
was authorized by the courts. In November 2019 a Brazilian court withdrew the arrest warrant against former president of Paraguay Horacio Cartes.
Operation Jaguar's Den
Federal Police launched Operation Jaguar's Den on 8 November 2018. The (TRF-2) initially served 19 warrants for temporary arrest, three for pre-trial detention, and 47 for search and seizure. The action, which was an offshoot of Operation Lava Jato
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
in the state of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, had the participation of 200 federal police officers, 35 members of the Ministério Público Federal
The Public Prosecutor's Office ( pt, Ministério Público, lit. "Public Ministry", also usually referred as "MP") is the Brazilian body of independent public prosecutors at both the federal (') and state level (''Ministério Público Estadual'' ...
and ten auditors of Department of Federal Revenue.
The goal of the operation was to investigate the participation of of Rio de Janeiro State in a scheme of corruption, money laundering, biased hiring, and labor outsourcing in the administration of the State of Rio de Janeiro. According to Miranda, a group of congressmen received a monthly stipend from the political group of Sérgio Cabral in exchange for parliamentary support, which ranged from R$20,000 to R$100,000 ($ to $).
The operation was named after a conference room in RJ State Assembly, where members would sometimes adjourn and have heated conversations, which gained it the nickname, the "Jaguar's Den".
On 14 December 2018, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) filed a complaint against 29 persons suspected of corruption, money laundering, and criminal organization in Federal Regional Court of Region 2 (TRF-2), based on the investigations of Operation Jaguar's Den. Among those indicted were the ten state congressmen targeted by the operation, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro Sérgio Cabral, former state secretaries, advisors to the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj), and managers of the (Detran-RJ).
2020
Operation Puppeteer
Operation Puppeteer () was launched 5 March 2020. The operation led to the arrest of the former national secretary of justice Astério Pereira dos Santos, who was suspected of involvement in a scheme to pay kickbacks to members of the (TCE-RJ). The Portuguese name of the operation, , is a reference to a puppeteer that controls marionettes, only moving the strings, without ever appearing in view. According to the prosecutors, this was Astério's function in the criminal organization.
Operation Favorite
On 14 May 2020, the Federal Police launched a new phase of Car Wash, baptized Operation Favorite, in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, with the arrest of former state representative Paulo Melo, businessman Mário Peixoto and three other people, with indications that the businessman's group was interested in doing business in field hospitals, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a man from São Paulo who had traveled to Italy tested positive for the virus. ...
. 1.5 million reals were seized at the home of one of the targets of the investigation.
The targets were allegedly the units set up by the state (with public money) in Maracanã, São Gonçalo, Duque de Caxias
Duque is a Spanish surname meaning "duke".
People
Notable people with the name include:
* Jaime Enrique Duque Correa (1943–2013), Colombian Roman Catholic bishop
* Andrés Duque (21st century), American activist
* Carlos Duque (1930–2014), Pa ...
, Nova Iguaçu
Nova Iguaçu (, locally: or , ''New Iguaçu'') is a municipality in Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil.
Location
The city is named after the Iguaçu River that runs through it and empties into Guanabara Bay (not to be confused with the Iguaçu Ri ...
, Campos, and Casimiro de Abreu
Casimiro José Marques de Abreu (January 4, 1839 – October 18, 1860) was a Brazilian poet, novelist and playwright, adept of the "Ultra-Romanticism" movement. He is famous for the poem "Meus oito anos".
He is patron of the 6th chair of the Br ...
.
The criminal organization allegedly embezzled health care funds, in collusion with state audit court advisors, state deputies, and other public officials.
Operation Let There Be Light
On 25 June 2020, the Federal Police launched Operation Let There Be Light (), which investigated bribery at Eletrobras
Eletrobras (, full name: Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A.) is a major Brazilian electric utilities company. The company's headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro.
It is Latin America's biggest power utility company, tenth largest in the wo ...
.
Among those under investigation was Silas Rondeau
Silas Rondeau is a Brazilian politician, and a member of Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB). He formerly served as Minister of Mines and Energy in Brazil President Lula's cabinet.
Allegations and resignation
On May 22, 2007, he resigned ...
, former Minister of Mines and Energy in Lula's government.
Twelve arrest warrants were issued in the operation, and eighteen search and seizure warrants were served in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasília.
Abroad
Car Wash operations outside Brazil began after Odebrecht S.A. and Braskem
Braskem is a Brazilian petrochemical company headquartered in São Paulo. The company is the largest petrochemical company in Latin America and has become a major player in the international petrochemical market (8th largest resin producer worldw ...
admitted in a leniency agreement filed with the US Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
that they paid bribes abroad totaling more than one billion dollars. During the investigations of Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...
, whistle blowers reported crimes in several other countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas.
According to experts, four principles allowed corruption schemes to spread in Latin America and around the world: the privileges granted to companies in Brazil; presidential diplomacy of the Lula administration which facilitated the operations of these companies abroad; allocation of funds from the Brazilian Development Bank
The National Bank for Economic and Social Development ( pt, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, abbreviated: BNDES) is a development bank structured as a federal public company associated with the Ministry of the Economy of Bra ...
for projects involving Brazilian contractors abroad; and the actions of marketers as intermediaries.
* Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
– The Brazilian Development Bank
The National Bank for Economic and Social Development ( pt, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, abbreviated: BNDES) is a development bank structured as a federal public company associated with the Ministry of the Economy of Bra ...
(BNDES) said it would internally investigate allegations made by Odebrecht
Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...
whistleblowers regarding favoring the company in Angola and hiring a consultancy for R$12 million ($) at the request of Luiz Eduardo Melin de Carvalho, then chief of staff of the then Minister of Finance, Guido Mantega
Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...
. Melin had previously been the international and foreign trade director at BNDES. Another inquiry was to investigate the testimony of Emilio Odebrecht, who said he had asked former President Lula to use his influence to get Odebrecht favorable treatment in the country.
* Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...
– Brazilian businessmen said they used third parties to acquire a subsidiary of Viennese Meinl Bank in Antigua and Barbuda to facilitate the concealment of illegal transfers that could reach US$1.6 billion. The executives were linked to Odebrecht and the brewery company Grupo Petrópolis
Cervejaria Petrópolis is a Brazilian brewery (cervejaria) company headquartered in Petrópolis. The company has 6 industrial plants located in Petrópolis, Boituva, Teresópolis, Rondonópolis, Alagoinhas and Itapissuma, and operates in Brazil, ...
. The information was made public in June 2016, during Operation Xepa, the 26th phase of Operation Car Wash.
* Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
– Odebrecht made illicit payments of US$35 million to intermediaries linked to at least three infrastructure projects between 2007 and 2014 under the government of Cristina Kirchner
Cristina is a female given name, and it is also a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Cristina (daughter of Edward the Exile), 11th-century English princess
*Cristina (singer), Cristina Monet-Palaci (1956–2020), American s ...
.
* Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
– Publicist Duda Mendonça
José Eduardo Cavalcanti de Mendonça, known as Duda Mendonça (10 August 1944 – 16 August 2021), was a Brazilian advertising person and political strategist. Owner of a publicity agency called Duda Propaganda, he became known for his political ...
said in an award-winning accusation that Brazilian contractor OAS funded the Michelle Bachelet presidential campaign in 2013. She governed Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018. Now United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...
, Bechelet denies any ties to OAS. Also in the 2013 campaign, the contractor allegedly loaned an executive jet to another candidate, the defeated Marco Enríquez Ominami
Marco may refer to:
People
* Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco
* Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor
* Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin
* Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...
, to travel the country.
* Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
– The contractor spent about US$11 million on middlemen between 2009 and 2014, even involving the name of President Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
in 2016. Senator Otto Bula, arrested 14 January was accused of receiving US$4.6 million in bribes to award the Brazilians a no-bid contract to build the Ocaña- Gamarra freeway.
* Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
– Marcelo Odebrecht
Marcelo Bahia Odebrecht (; born 18 October 1968) is a Brazilian businessman and the former CEO of Odebrecht, a diversified Brazilian conglomerate. In March 2016, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison for paying more than $30 million in bribes. ...
revealed, in a deposition given in exchange for a reduced sentence, that former President Lula and Minas Governor Fernando Pimentel
Fernando Damata Pimentel (born 31 March 1951) is a Brazilian politician and economist. He is a member of the Workers' Party (PT). He was the Mayor of Belo Horizonte from 2001 to 2009, the Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade in ...
(PT-MG) acted politically to make it possible for the group to obtain contracts for work at the Port of Mariel, Cuba. Lula was already being investigated for influence peddling involving the contracts. The venture was budgeted at US$957 million, of which US$682 million came from the Brazilian Development Bank
The National Bank for Economic and Social Development ( pt, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, abbreviated: BNDES) is a development bank structured as a federal public company associated with the Ministry of the Economy of Bra ...
. 4* Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
– According to the US Justice Department, bribery was practiced over 13 years from 2001 to 2014. Odebrecht is still under investigation for paying US$92 million in bribes to public officials in the Dominican Republic in this period. In January, the construction company's general manager in the Dominican Republic was questioned by the country's Attorney General. The period investigated covers the terms of three presidents: Hipólito Mejía
Rafael Hipólito Mejía Domínguez (born 22 February 1941) is a Dominican politician who served as President of the Dominican Republic from 2000 to 2004.
During his presidential term in office the country was affected by one of its worst econ ...
(2000-2004), Leonel Fernández (2004-2012) and Danilo Medina (2012-2020).
* El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
– Odebrecht says it paid $5.3 million to bankroll two election campaigns for presidential candidate Mauricio Funes
Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena (born 18 October 1959) is a Salvadoran politician and former journalist who served as President of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014. Funes won the 2009 Salvadoran presidential election, 2009 presidential election as ...
, elected in 2009. The payment was allegedly made in 2008 to marketer , who ran Funes' campaign that year. In February 2016 Funes became a defendant before the country's Supreme Court for not justifying personal transactions of over US$600,000. Seven months later, the Nicaraguan government granted Funes political asylum, finding him persecuted as a politician. The case has not yet been tried. (see also: Operation Acarajé)
* Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
– Bribes were allegedly paid over a decade between 2007 and 2016 in exchange for preferential treatment on construction projects in the country. Odebrecht executives said they gave over US$33.5 million to Ecuadorian politicians during this period.
* Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
– Odebrecht's operations in the country took place between 2013 and 2015, with estimated expenses of US$18 million in bribes. Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana
Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández (; born 27 September 1955) is a Guatemalan jurist and politician, former President of the Supreme Court and former Attorney General.
Life
Aldana was born in Gualán, eastern Guatemala, in 1955. She graduated ...
said she would seek the collaboration of the United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
and the Attorney General of Brazil to investigate the payment of bribes to the country's civil servants during the term of former president Otto Pérez Molina, arrested in 2015, accused of pocketing more than 50 percent of all customs revenue in the country.
* Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
– Between 2010 and 2014, the Brazilian contractor paid a total of US$10.5 million to intermediaries in the country. The payment was confirmed by Odebrecht executives in testimony given in exchange for a sentence reduction from the US Department of Justice.
* Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
– Since July 2015, Brazil and Mozambique have exchanged information on corruption involving Brazilian contractors in the African country. In January 2016, Época magazine published a report stating that the Brazilian government authorized the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) to provide loans to the Mozambican government to build the Moamba Major dam on the condition that the contractor was Andrade Gutierrez.
* Norway – MP Norway also investigated bribes on the order of R$140 million ($) by its companies to former directors of Petrobras. Former employees of the Brazilian state-owned company were suspected of resorting to intermediaries of Scandinavian companies to supply accounts with money from bribes paid to their former directors, political agents and authorities in Brazil, in a collusion and diversion scheme. At the center of the investigation between Norway and Brazil was Sevan Drilling – a company specialized in offshore oil exploration with representation in Rio.
* Panama – An alleged US$59 million in bribes under former president Ricardo Martinelli
Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal (born March 11, 1951) is a Panamanian politician and businessman who was the 36th President of Panama, president of Panama from 2009 to 2014.
Early life
Born in Panama City, Ricardo Martinelli is the son ...
(2009-2014). In July 2016, Lava Jato pointed to the existence of an international money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
scheme set up by which allegedly acted to illegally open 44 offshore companies in countries with little or no tax on assets. The FPB allegedly acted in conjunction with Mossack Fonseca, of the Panama Papers
The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...
investigation.
* Peru – Odebrecht reportedly disbursed millions in bribes between 2005 and 2014, with US$20 million to build the Interoceanic Highway
The Interoceanic Highway or Trans-oceanic highway is an international, transcontinental highway in Peru and Brazil to connect the two countries. The east–west passageway spans 2600 kilometers. From Peru's Pacific Ocean coastline, it continues ...
linking the country to Brazil. The Peruvian prosecution has called for the arrest of former President Alejandro Toledo, who was arrested pre-emptively, and the Brazilian contractor prohibited from operating in the country.
* Portugal – Lava Jato has the support, in Brazil, of researchers who worked in Portugal on Operation Marquês, which brought about the jailing in late 2014 of former Prime Minister of Portugal, José Sócrates
José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH (born 6 September 1957), commonly known as José Sócrates (), is a Portuguese politician who was the prime minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011. For the second half of 2007, he ...
. In October 2013, Odebrecht funded a trip by former President Lula to Lisbon, in conjunction with the release of a book by Socrates. The contractor justified the trip by saying that they paid for the former Brazilian president's trip because he would participate in a ceremony marking the 25-year anniversary of the founding of Odebrecht. Portuguese officials suspected Lula would be lobbying for the contractor in Portugal.
* Venezuela – The charge is of bribes to officials of the government of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, who is still in power. Odebrecht also claims to have paid US$98 million to authorities in the country during the Chávez administration.
See also
* Phases of Operation Car Wash
A long series of criminal investigations have occurred in Brazil associated with Operation Car Wash. The first investigation was launched in March 2014, and is now known as of the investigation, with subsequent inquiries numbered sequentially an ...
* Glossary
A glossary (from grc, γλῶσσα, ''glossa''; language, speech, wording) also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Tradi ...
* Brazilian currency
The Brazilian currency has been renamed and redefined several times through its history. Since 1994, the official one is the Brazilian real (plural ''reais'', with symbol R$ and ISO code BRL.
Historical currencies
Note that the dates of vari ...
* Cabinet of Brazil
The Cabinet of Brazil ( pt, Gabinete Ministerial do Brasil) is composed of the Ministers of State and senior advisors of the executive branch of the federal government of Brazil. Cabinet officers are appointed and dismissed by the President. There ...
* Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
* Constitution of Brazil
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil) is the supreme law of Brazil. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of Brazil and the feder ...
* Corruption in Brazil
Corruption in Brazil exists on all levels of society from the top echelons of political power to the smallest municipalities. Operation Car Wash showed central government members using the prerogatives of their public office for rent-seeking act ...
* Crime in Brazil
Crime in Brazil involves an elevated incidence of violent and non-violent crimes. Brazil possesses high rates of violent crimes, such as murders and robberies. Brazil's homicide rate was 27.4 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants according to the UN ...
* Economy of Brazil
* Electricity sector in Brazil
* Federal government of Brazil
* Industry in Brazil
* Judiciary of Brazil
* Law enforcement in Brazil
In Brazil, the Federal Constitution establishes eight law enforcement institutions - seven titulars and one auxiliar. The titular institutions are: the Federal Police, the Federal Highway Police, the Federal Railroad Police, the Federal Penal P ...
* Law of Brazil
* List of companies of Brazil
Brazil is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. Brazil's economy is the world's ninth- largest by nominal GDP and seventh- largest by GDP (PPP) . A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the world's fastes ...
* List of scandals in Brazil
This is a list of scandals in Brazil.
Before 1950
* (1770) An indigenous revolt in Roraima. So many soldiers and native people were killed, their blood tinted the waters of the Branco River.
1960s
Historians believe that construction of the ...
* Mining in Brazil
Mining in Brazil is centered on the extraction of iron (the second largest global iron ore exporter), copper, gold, aluminum (bauxite-one of the 5 biggest world's productors), manganese (one of the 5 biggest world's productors), tin (one of the bi ...
* Penal Code of Brazil
The current Penal Code of Brazil ( pt, Código Penal brasileiro) was promulgated in 1940, during the Estado Novo regime in the Vargas Era, and is in effect since January 1, 1942. It is the third codification of criminal law in the country's hist ...
* Politics of Brazil
The politics of Brazil take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. The political and administrative or ...
* President of Brazil
The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...
* States of Brazil
The federative units of Brazil ( pt, unidades federativas do Brasil) are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which ...
* Timeline of Brazilian history
This is a timeline of Brazilian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Brazil and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Brazil.
Centuries: 10th 15th ...
* Operation Weak Meat
in Portuguese:
* Desdobramentos da Operação Lava Jato
()
* Fases da Operação Lava Jato
()
* Delações da Odebrecht na Operação Lava Jato
()
References
Notes
Citations
External links
Lava Jato
official Brazilian website for Operation Car Wash
Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil
pdf; 432 pages
Official Senate legislation search engine for Brazilian law
Legislação brasileira traduzida para o Inglês
official English translations of the Constitution, and dozens of other Brazilian laws
{{Authority control
2014 in Brazil
2014 scandals
2015 in Brazil
2015 scandals
2016 in Brazil
2016 scandals
2017 in Brazil
2017 scandals
2018 in Brazil
2018 scandals
2019 in Brazil
2019 scandals
Anti-corruption measures
Corruption in Brazil
Government of Michel Temer
Odebrecht
Petrobras
Law enforcement in Brazil
Political history of Brazil
Political scandals in Brazil