Petrobras Scandal: Lava Jato Prisoner Ran Marathons and Brought U2 and Beyoncé to Brazil

08/20/2015 - 09h01

He has run the New York marathon on 12 occasions, crossed the United States by bicycle, participated in the Ironman Triathlon and in the amateur phase of the Tour de France. But since March, Adir Assad has been imprisoned in a 12m2 cell in a Curitiba prison.

The 62-year-old businessman was arrested in the 10th phase of the Federal Police's Operation Lava Jato, charged with overseeing the corruption scheme under investigation at Petrobras.

Assad allegedly used his companies to sign false contracts with construction firms and mediate the payment of bribes in Petrobras projects.

Under preventive detention, Assad denies the accusations. Originally a civil engineer, he moved into marketing and brought big names like Beyoncé and U2 to play concerts in Brazil. He retired from the business in 2007, to dedicate himself to sport.

"I wanted to be the best amateur athlete in the country," Assad said in court in mid-July, wearing a training top and a digital watch. "I gave it a break. My life has been sort of put on hold."

Assad says he left his five engineering and marketing companies - Rock Star Marketing, Legend Engenheiros, Soterra Terraplanagem, SM Terraplanagem and Power to Ten Engenharia - under the control of his partners Dario Teixeira and Sonia Branco, who have also been charged with money laundering and conspiracy.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the companies mediated payments of approximately R$30 million (USD $8.6 million) in bribes in Petrobras contracts between 2009 and 2012. Assad is described a "controller of one of the nucleuses of the sophisticated [corruption] scheme."

In 2012, Assad was also accused of acting in favor of the construction firm Delta, which was involved in a scandal involving illegal bookmaker Carlinhos Cachoeira. The case is still under investigation.

Assad denies the charges. "I wish there was a polygraph here, because this is ridiculous," he said in court. "I was never in charge of company administration. I was always a marketing man."

ROUTINE

Before his arrest, Assad trained for six to eight hours a day. In his free time, he gave motivational speeches at universities, talking about his routine as an athlete.

Today, he is detained at the Complexo Médico Penal, in the Curitiba metropolitan area. Other Lava Jato prisoners are also detained at the complex.

Miguel Pereira Neto, Assad's lawyer, says his client exercises as much as possible. However, with limited space, press-ups, abdominal exercises and shuttle runs are all he can manage, despite being allowed outside for an hour a day. "It's a small patio," says Pereira Neto.

At the beginning of April, Assad had ten physiotherapy sessions at the prison, involving stretching and a session on the treadmill and an exercise bike for nearly 40 minutes three times a week.

"He has a titanium plate in his spine from an operation he underwent. He has to exercise, otherwise it is painful," says Pereira Neto.

After five months behind bars, Assad recognizes at least one mistake: not having pursued a career in sport. "I think I would have been better off. Because these four months, Your Honor even if I'm found guilty, I've already learnt," he said in court to the judge Sergio Moro.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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