Lower house speaker faces probe over Switzerland accounts
Justice Teori Zavascki
Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki has granted a request to open an investigation against Eduardo Cunha, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. The petition was filed Thursday (Oct. 15) by Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot, based on reports that Cunha had bank accounts in Switzerland. The deputy's wife and daughter are also implicated in the case.
Last week, the Office of the Attorney-General of Switzerland sent information to Brazil about monies found in bank accounts that are believed to belong to Cunha. According to investigators in Operation Car Wash, a mass corruption investigation on a corruption scandal involving Petrobras, the money may have originated from kickbacks received in connection with a contract with Brazil's oil company. The exact amount has not been disclosed.
This is the second Supreme Court case related to Operation Car Wash involving Eduardo Cunha. In August, Prosecutor Janot charged the lower house speaker with bribery and money laundering related to a Petrobras vessel contract.
About the latest case, Cunha said it comes as a “solution” rather than a “problem” now that he can “examine the charges to put up a defense.”
He scoffed at reports that he is cutting a deal with former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to dismiss impeachment requests against President Dilma Rousseff in exchange for “protection” from a potential ouster sought with the Ethics Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. He denies having met or addressed the issue with the former president.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Lower house speaker faces probe over Switzerland accounts
