Cunha Denies Having Offshore Accounts and Says He Will Be Back in the Lower House on Monday

05/20/2016 - 09h11

Brazil's ousted lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ) gave a seven hour statement this Thursday (19) before the house's Ethics Committee.

He reiterated that he was not the owner of offshore accounts, criticised the decision to suspend him and said that he had not breathed a word to the new man in charge, Michel Temer (PMDB).

On Thursday (19), his colleague, André Moura (PSC-SE) was selected by Temer to lead his base in the Lower House of Congress.

Testifying before the committee, Cunha stated that he would still attend debates in the lower house. "From Monday (23), I'll be back in my cabinet," he said.

His feisty attitude could clash with the views of the Supreme Court (STF). The STF unanimously ruled Cunha unfit for office, suspending the speaker for abuse of his responsibility and obstruction of Justice.

In his statement, the PMDB member went on to state that his R $9 million (US$ 2.5 million) found held in Swiss bank accounts, is locked up in trust funds, and not under his name.

Cunha denied the existence of these accounts at a parliamentary inquiry for Petrobras. The ex-speaker is now accused of lying about his offshore funds.

He maintains that he was not using the trust funds to disguise his assets, and that, if this was his intention, he would have used a foundation.

In his statement, Cunha criticised the STF's decision to remove him, claiming there was an ulterior motive. "It's obvious that the STF is planning something. With time we'll find what the STF's intentions are," he said.

Cunha faces accusations from the Ethics Committee as well as the STF.

Translated by GILLIAN SOPHIE HARRIS

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