Federal Police Arrest Aide to President Temer Accused of Receiving Bribes

05/24/2017 - 11h18

The Federal Police (PF) arrested Tadeu Filippelli (PMDB- Brazilian Democratic Movement Party), a special aide to the President of the Republic, as well as former governors of the Federal District José Roberto Arrauda (PR- Party of the Republic) and Agnelo Queiroz (Workers' Party) on Tuesday (the 23rd).

The temporary detentions, for an initial period of five days, are part of the Panathenaic Operation, rolled out by the PF and the General Prosecutor of the Federal District to investigate the content of testimony given by five executives of construction company Andrade Gutierrez as part of their plea-bargain agreements.

The plea-bargainers admitted to the creation of a cartel and the payment of bribes in the project to refurbish the Mané Garrincha Stadium, undertaken for the 2014 World Cup and overbilled, according to investigators, on the order of R$ 900 million (US$ 277 million).

	Luiz Xavier/Câmara dos Deputados
	Tadeu Filippelli (PMDB-DF), special aide to embattled Brazilian President Michel Temer

Hours after the arrests, Temer signed a decree removing Filippelli from office. Filippelli is a regional president of the PMDB Party and a former Vice-Governor of the Federal District who was part of a group of five special aides chosen by Temer at the beginning of his government to operate out of an office located just a few meters from the Presidential Cabinet itself.

In addition to Filippelli, the others include recently removed congressman Rodrigo Rocha Loures (PMDB Party), José Yunes, Sandro Mabel and Gastão Toledo. Of the five, four have been cited in federal investigations.

The targets of the operation deny that they have benefited from embezzlement. The name, Panathenaic, is in reference to the Panathenaic Stadium, the locale for competitions in Ancient Greece.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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