THE Car Wash Operation aims to investigate a corruption scheme between businessmen and politicians at Petrobras.
The investigation began in 2008 and has convicted 67 people as of March 2017.
One of them was former president Michel Temer on March 21, 2019, accused of brokering bribes for his former minister Moreira Franco.
How did Lava Jato start?
Operation Lava Jato started by chance.
A businessman, Hermes Magnus, reported a money laundering scheme to the Federal Police.
The Federal Police started to investigate the criminals, among which was the money changer Alberto Youssef. This one had tickets in the police for smuggling and the scandal of Banestado.
Alberto Youssef's wiretapping revealed a “donation” of an imported car to former Petrobras supply director Paulo Roberto Costa.
In order not to be arrested, or at least to see his sentence reduced, Costa and Youssef agreed to collaborate with the police. This practice was known as the “Rewarded Denunciation” and was a law sanctioned by President Dilma Rousseff in order to help in the fight against corruption.
Based on this testimony, the two unveiled the state-owned oil company's bidding scheme.
Petrobras and Lava Jato
Before understanding the Lava Jato, it is necessary to familiarize ourselves with the operation of the largest Brazilian state-owned company: Petrobras.
The company used bids to carry out works and works. A bid is a competition between companies to perform services for another company. For the bidding to take place in a fair manner, it must be confidential.
In the case of Petrobras, a group of companies formed a cartel to evaluate the state-owned bid contracts. In this way, they competed in the company's bids, so that one of them was always chosen.
For this to work, some Petrobras employees were also involved in helping the cartel. Their function was to restrict the number of companies invited to bid and provide information that could benefit the company winning the contract.
The “dollars” or financial operators also entered the scene, who took the money that had been obtained with the bidding and “washed” it.
“Money laundering” means to bring an amount acquired illegally back into circulation lawfully.
There are several ways to do this and one of the most common is to open accounts in “tax havens”. Thus, the money can return to Brazil in the form of investment in ghost companies.
As Petrobras is a government company, many of its directors are there by political appointment. Thus, political parties divided the company among themselves to gain greater influence.
It didn't take long for the Federal Police to make the connection between businessmen and politicians. In August 2014, Paulo Roberto da Costa declared:
“The transfer to political groups is (...) institutionalized and fulfilled by all Petrobras works (...). The bribe comes from a percentage of the profit (...). Each contractor had its own mechanism for making the value (...) reach the corresponding political group”.
Thus, the Federal Police learned that part of the money was diverted to finance campaigns of political parties such as PT, MDB and PP.
In turn, Alberto Youssef cited the contractors who participated in the corruption scheme. Several directors of companies such as Odebrecht, OAS and Camargo Corrêa were arrested.
Consequences for Petrobras
With this scandal, Petrobras suffered losses of more than six billion reais due to corruption. In 2014, the year ended with a loss, something that had not happened since 1991.
So, in an attempt to balance the accounts, the company reduced investments and laid off several employees.
Car Wash Trials
It is necessary to understand that the Federal Police, in Operation Lava Jato, investigates common citizens and politicians.
Once the investigations are concluded, the Federal Police presents the material to the Public Ministry, which decides whether or not to report what was investigated.
Politicians have a privileged forum, that is, they can only be judged by the STF. Ordinary citizens are judged in Curitiba, and politicians in Brasília.
Politicians Involved in Car Wash
Some parliamentarians found themselves involved in the Lava Jato denunciations, such as ex-deputy Eduardo Cunha (MDB-RJ) and senator Delcídio do Amaral (PT-MS).
Also, some accusations pepper the former president squid, on behalf of a triplex in Guarujá, which is in the name of the OAS contractor.
the former president Dilma Rousseff was accused of obstructing justice by naming Lula as Chief of Staff in the week he would be summoned to testify. Rousseff wanted to guarantee that Lula would have privileged jurisdiction and thus escape the judicial process.
Also the name of the president Michel Temer was found in spreadsheets of the Camargo Corrêa construction company in 2009 and 2014. Temer claimed they were campaign donations and the case went to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). Likewise, the appointment of Moreira Franco as minister was seen by some groups as an attempt to obstruct justice.
On March 21, 2019, both Michel Temer and Moreira Franco were arrested in Operation Lava Jato.
Currently, 83 politicians are investigated at different levels of justice. In March 2017, the following names were highlighted:
ministers
- Marcos Pereira (PRB-RJ), from Industry, Foreign Trade and Services
- Moreira Franco (MDB), from Mines and Energy
governors
- Renan Filho (MDB), from Alagoas
- Luiz Fernando Pezão (MDB), from Rio de Janeiro
- Fernando Pimentel (PT), from Minas Gerais
- Tião Viana (PT), from Acre
- Beto Richa (PSDB), from Paraná
Senators
- Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ)
- Jorge Viana (PT-AC)
- Marta Suplicy (MDB-SP)
- Forest Index (PSB-BA)
Federal Deputies
- Marco Maia (PT-RS)
- Andres Sanchez (PT-SP)
- Lúcio Vieira Lima (MDB-BA)
- José Carlos Aleluia (DEM-BA)
- Landin Countries (PTB-PI)
Car Wash Numbers in October 2017
- 1114 procedures filed;
- 482 search and seizure warrants;
- 50 award winning agreements;
- 2.9 billion returned to public coffers;
- 67 convictions that add up to 900 years in prison.
Lava Jato and the Governors of Rio de Janeiro
The former governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral (MDB), was arrested in November 2016. He was charged with taking bribes, forming a conspiracy, and cheating on various contractor contracts. He was sentenced to more than 170 years in prison.
His wife, Adriana Anselmo, was also accused of receiving money illegally. Sentenced to 18 years in prison, she was initially held in prison and then placed under house arrest.
On November 29, 2018, with a large media apparatus, Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, the Secretary of Works of Rio de Janeiro, José Iran Peixoto and the former Secretary of Works of Rio, Hudson Braga, were arrested in a police action Federal.
On the same day, six more people, including the governor's nephew, were ordered to be arrested.
The arrests were based on the denunciations of Carlos Miranda, who was responsible for paying bribes to the governor since he was deputy governor of Sérgio Cabral.
Pezão received an allowance of around 150 thousand reais from 2007 to 2014, in addition to a bonus of 1 million reais that were paid at the Guanabara Palace.
With the arrest of former governor Moreira Franco, Rio de Janeiro has reached the mark of 5 former representatives who are or were in jail.
Car Wash Curiosities
- Federal Police agent Newton Hidenori Ishii, responsible for escorting suspects to the Federal Police, gained notoriety throughout the country. Of Japanese descent, Ishii became known as “Japonês da Federal” and won marchinha, masks and giant Carnival dolls.
- Operation Lava Jato produced a film “A Lei é para Todos”, directed by Marcelo Antunez, in 2017.
- According to the delegates handling the case, Operation Lava Jato has no end date.