Brazil: Former governor of Rio de Janeiro accused in new corruption case

São Paulo, Brazil – Former governor of Rio de Janeiro Sergio Cabral and the outgoing president of the Legislative Assembly of the state Jorge Picciani were today accused by Brazilian courts accused of participating in an illegal scheme for the purchase and sale of cattle.

Both politicians were accused of administrative misconduct by the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF-RJ), charged with the practice of money laundering and receiving bribery.

According to the Brazilian court, Cabral will have received one million reais (230,000 euros, at the current exchange rate) in bribes from Carioca Engenharia between 2007 and 2014.

This money will have generated illicit operations of buying and selling cattle heads, created by the Picciani family.

MPF-RJ claims that bribery schemes involved bidding, hiring and executing favela urbanization projects, renovating the Maracanã sports stadium, building the Rio de Janeiro metro arch and also a metro line.

In addition to the accusation against Cabral and Picciani, the MPF-RJ also denounced José Augusto Ferreira dos Santos, appointed as financial operator of the illicit scheme.