Federal Police Inquiry Concerning President Temer Has Reason to Believe Corruption Took Place

06/20/2017 - 09h15

Folha obtained information demonstrating that a preliminary Federal Police report into the actions of president Michel Temer and his former aide Rodrigo Rocha Loures, has reason to believe that passive corruption took place.

The information was handed over to Brazil's supreme court on Monday (the 19th), although the court has not yet declassified it.

Folha determined that it is still unclear how the police view each of the subjects of the investigation individually, although the document in question does conclude that a crime was certainly committed.

The Federal Police requested that justice Edson Fachin concede five additional days in order to wrap up the investigation and present the report concerning the conversations that were recorded by Joesley Batista, the JBS executive. The police are waiting on the results in order to determine whether obstruction of justice also took place.

The Federal Police was contacted, but preferred not to comment. Temer and Loures' press secretaries also chose not to comment. A forensics team is analyzing four separate audio files, among them a conversation Mr. Batista had with president Temer at the Jaburu Palace, on March 7th.

When attorney general Rodrigo Janot called for the opening of an investigation, he stated that the recordings established that president Temer approved of giving hush money to former congressman Eduardo Cunha and intermediary Lúcio Funaro, both of whom are in jail.

However, Folha also uncovered that the recordings had not yet been subjected to the scrutiny of the Federal Police's forensics team, which has now uncovered portions of the audio files that were formerly inaudible.

Once the inquiry has been concluded, the attorney general will decide whether or not to go to the supreme court and bring charges against Temer and Loures.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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	Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP
	Brazilian President Michel Temer (C) gets off the plane upon his arrival at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport