Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) has reached the majority of votes needed to convict former President Fernando Collor de Mello, who was ousted after a political trial more than 3 decades ago, on charges of corruption and money laundering.
6 out of 10 Supreme Court magistrates have already announced their votes, 5 of them in favor of conviction, and the final sentence, which will determine the number of years in prison, will be known when the hearing begins next week. Plenary session of the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Judge Edson Fachin, the instructor in the case, found Collor de Mello guilty of the crimes of passive corruption, money laundering, money laundering and sentenced him to 33 years in prison and a fine of 20 million reais ($4 million). proposed. Illegal association.
As argued by the investigator in the case, there is substantial evidence that the crimes occurred and were committed by Collor when he was a senator.
The 73-year-old former president ruled Brazil between 1990 and 1992, when he resigned as parliament was preparing to end his impeachment trial on alleged corruption charges, after which he was acquitted in court. was done.
Between 2007 and 2023 he held a seat in the Senate and last year he was an unsuccessful candidate for the governorship of Alagoas State, which he held before reaching the presidency.
The complaint in the case, which the Supreme Court is now judging, was presented in 2019 and confirms that Collor de Mello used his influence in politics to get businessman João Lyra to commit fraud with a subsidiary of state-owned Petrobras. done to benefit the contract with which he maintains one. “Friendship Relation”.
For mediating the concession of these contracts, which had a total value of 240 million reais (currently $48 million), the former president would have received a “commission” equivalent to about 15% of that amount.
The latest charges against Collor de Mello come on the edge of the wider “Lava Jato” bribery investigation, which has jailed dozens of politicians and business leaders, including several former presidents.
