Police seize 48 paintings in Operation Car Wash

Forty eight paintings were taken to the southern city of Curitiba Wednesday (Feb 11), after being seized as part of Operation Car Wash, in its ninth phase since last week. The seizure took place in Rio de Janeiro, in the home of Zwi Zcorniky, who is accused of acting as middleman in the payment of bribes involving Petrobras contracts.

The works of art will be kept under the custody of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum, in Curitiba. The measure had been authorized by Federal Judge Sérgio Moro after he was informed that the Federal Police had located high-value assets during investigations.

“The seizure of the high-value assets in his home is justifiable, as they will be useful in repairing the damages arising from the crime or be subjected to criminal confiscation,” Moro argued.

The Oscar Niemeyer Museum houses other works of art seized by the Federal Police during previous phases of the operation. Its archive include such major Brazilian painters as Di Cavalcanti, Aldemir Martins, and Claudio Tozzi.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira