Brazil's Supreme Court convicted a leading politician Thursday, the first in a major bribery trial over alleged vote-buying in Congress under former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. A majority of the justices on the bench found Joao Paulo Cunha, a top politician in Lula's Workers' Party (PT) who headed the Chamber of Deputies, guilty of bribery, embezzlement of public funds and money laundering.
Thirty-eight former ministers, lawmakers, businessmen and bankers are facing prosecution before the Supreme Court over the alleged scheme that ran from 2002 to 2005 during Lula's first term. Cunha, who is running for mayor in a city in the Sao Paulo region, is accused of having received 50,000 reals (about $25,000) from an advertising agency with alleged funding ties to the PT.
The former director of marketing at the public-owned Banco do Brasil was also convicted on charges of embezzling $37 million. The justices acquitted former communications minister Luiz Gushiken, saying there was insufficient proof to find him guilty. In the coming weeks, the court is due to rule on the cases of former chief of staff Jose Dirceu and Delubio Soares de Castro, former PT treasurer.
Comments
Comments are closed.