Judge Accepts Accusation and Former President Lula Becomes a Defendant for the Third Time

10/14/2016 - 12h48

On Thursday (13), the judge of the 10th Federal Court of Brasília, Vallisney de Souza Oliveira, accepted an accusation of the Public Prosecutor's Office and began proceedings against former president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and businessman Marcelo Odebrecht.

The Public Prosecutor's accusation charges them with organized crime, money laundering and corruption in a case involving construction company Odebrecht, which hired a company belonging to Taiguara Rodrigues, a nephew of Lula's first wife. Taiguara himself and eight other people also became defendants, six of them are Odebrecht employees.

This is the third time that Lula has become a defendant since July. The two other cases are investigating an alleged attempt to prevent the plea bargain of the former director of Petrobras, Brazil's government-owned oil giant, Nestor Cerveró, whose proceedings are currently in Brasilia.

And another case, in the state of Paraná, investigating the three-floor penthouse in Guarujá (SP) whose renovation was paid for by construction company OAS.

The acceptance of the accusation does not mean the defendants are necessarily guilty, but that the judge believes there are grounds to begin proceedings, during which the defendants will be entitled to present their defense as well as witnesses.

The accusation of the Public Prosecutor's Office indicates that Lula obtained "undue benefits" from Odebrecht, such as lectures that were never held and the contracting of Taiguara's company, ExergiaBrasil, in the amount of R$ 20 million (US$ 6,5 million) for services that allegedly were never performed.

The Public Prosecutor's Office believes that Lula helped Odebrecht to obtain financing for construction overseas, such as in Angola: the money was lent to the country for construction to be carried out by Odebrecht.

Judge Oliveira says that so far the accusation has shown "plausibility and verisimilitude in the allegations," as he analyzed the descriptions of conduct and documents presented.

Lula's defense denies any misconduct regarding the case.

	Christophe Simon/AFP
	This is the third time that the Former President Lula Da Silva has become a defendant since July

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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