Brazilian President Michel Temer has been accused of taking a large bribe by a former political ally. Lawyers for former President Dilma Rousseff, who was removed from office in May, filed court documents which they say prove the claim.
The controversy centers around whether a payment of a million Reais (US$295,000) was made to the leader. Mr Temer was Ms Rousseff's vice-president before being promoted after her dismissal. She was impeached in September after claims she moved money between government budgets, which is illegal in Brazil.
The country's top electoral court has spent months investigating whether illegal funds were used in Ms Rousseff's 2014 re-election campaign for the Workers Party (PT). If this happened, her entire ticket's win could be reversed - meaning Mr Temer, a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), would also be removed from office.
At the heart of the allegations is a donation of a million Reais made by Otavio Azevedo, the former CEO of construction firm Andrade Gutierrez. Mr Azevedo testified as part of a plea bargain that the money was a bribe given to Ms Rousseff.
But the documents her lawyers filed allegedly show that Andrade Gutierrez transferred the cash directly to the PMDB's general campaign finance fund. A check for the same sum was then allegedly paid into Mr Temer's personal campaign fund.
Ms Rousseff's lawyers say that Mr Azevedo lied and that the bribe went to Mr Temer, who should therefore be impeached. President Temer has stated that Ms Rousseff was head of the ticket and held all responsibility for any wrongdoing. His party said the donation was legal and was declared before the electoral court.
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesThe good news is that corruption, unaccounted cash, money laundering, undeclared accounts, etc, etc, criminal practices are on their way to get perfectly legalized in Brazil VERY soon!
Nov 13th, 2016 - 01:51 pm 0When is the fat cow going to realize she was impeached for reasons other than campaign funds.....but if she wants to add that to her list of crimes, why not ?
Nov 16th, 2016 - 10:37 pm 0Too many mistakes in the headline:
Nov 20th, 2016 - 01:56 pm 0Brazilian president accused of .........:
1º: REF: president: Which president?
2º: REF: president: Shouldn't it be in PLURAL - presidents?
3º: REF: president: Which president did NOT?
4º: REF: president: Why only A President is being isolated?
5º: REF: US$ 300.000: Is such a ridiculously small and a miserable amount - as compared to the stolen billions - why is this a news in the First place? :o))
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!