Supreme Court Justice Lifts Bank Secrecy of Senator Aécio Neves

12/08/2017 - 11h40

Justice Marco Aurélio Mello of Brazil's Supreme Court (STF), lifted the banking secrecy of senator Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG), his sister Andrea Neves, his cousin Frederico Pacheco and that of Mendherson de Souza, a former aide of senator Zezé Perrella (PMDB-MG).

Companies associated to Mr. Perrella were also targeted.

They were all charged for corruption after allegedly taking R$ 2 million (US$ 608,000) in bribes from company JBS.

Banking secrecy will be lifted during the period spanning from January 1st, 2014 to May 18th, 2017, when all four were targeted by Operation Patmos, which resulted from a plea-bargain agreement struck between investigators and JBS executives.

The lift on their banking secrecy was requested by the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR), which will sift through the data. Prosecutors claim that the information is necessary in order to trace the origin of payments and determine how the funds were used.

"The status of this process is compatible with the constitution, meaning that the request made by the Prosecutor General's Office is relevant. This ought to help clarify the facts and hold anyone accountable if that is the case", the Supreme Court justice stated in a ruling that was signed on November 27th and that was released to the public on Thursday (the 7th).

In a separate decision, justice Mello revoked the house arrests of Ms. Neves, Mr. Pacheco and Mr. Souza, and cleared them of having to wear ankle monitors.

Justice Mello said that the three of them "are expected to behave themselves like any other member of society", and shall provide proof of residency, let authorities know if they plan on moving and comply with any and all orders summoning them to a court of law.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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