Car Wash Task Force Accuses Lula and Brother of Corruption
Union Member Frei Chico is accused of receiving US$268.000 in Odebrecht allowances
The Car Wash task force in Sao Paulo filed a complaint accusing former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) and one of his brothers, José Ferreira da Silva, of corruption.
The complaint states that his brother, known as Frei Chico, received an Odebrecht allowance from 2003 to 2015. According to the prosecution, the total amount reaches R$ 1.1 million (US$ 268.000), divided into transfers of R$ 3,000 to R$ 5,000 over the period.
The report also accused Alexandrino Alencar, whistleblower and former executive considered to be Odebrecht's link with Lula, Emilio Odebrecht, the group's patriarch, and Marcelo Odebrecht, former president of the business conglomerate.
Lula is serving time for corruption and laundering in the Guarujá (SP) triplex case, which has already been tried in three instances.
He was also convicted of corruption and first-degree laundering in the Atibaia (SP) site case, which is under appeal at the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region.
The new complaint states that values were delivered in kind to Frei Chico at scheduled meetings in São Paulo.
The relationship began, prosecutors say, when Lula's brother was approached by the group in the 1990s to be an interlocutor with union movements.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon