Police Report Suggests Brazil President Temer Used Family Assets to Launder Money

04/27/2018 - 11h23

Six months ago, a Federal Police investigation began looking into the approval of a bill concerning the country's port sector. It now believes that president Michel Temer, one of the investigation's main suspects, may have laundered bribe money through the renovation of properties belonging to family members and acquired assets registered under other people's names in order to conceal assets.

Among the owners of such properties are Marcela Temer, the president's wife, and the couple's son.

At the current stage of the investigation, Federal Police investigators are maintaining that the president was payed R$ 2 million (US$ 576 thousand) in bribes through Colonel João Baptista de Lima Filho back in 2014.

That same year, when Temer was re-elected as vice-president on the Dilma-Temer ticket, two renovations estimated at approximately that amount took place at the home of the president's daughter, Maristela, and of his mother-in-law, Norma Tedeschi.

As reported by Folha, one of the service providers for the renovation that took place at Maristela's home claimed to have been paid in cash for its services and that Maria Rita Fratezi, Colonel Lima's wife, made all of the payments.

According to investigators, meat processing company JBS and a company linked to construction firm Engevix were behind the bribe money.

According to those in charge of the ongoing investigation, the corruption scheme in the port sector began over 20 years ago and has been in place since then.

	Walterson Rosa/FramePhoto/Folhapress
	Brazilian President Michel Temer

TEMER'S SIDE OF THE STORY

President Michel Temer's lawyer, Brian Alves Prado, stated that "the amounts used for transactions, whether via donations, real estate acquisitions or investments, are entirely compatible with the income declared to the Department of Federal Revenue.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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