MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Brazil’s attorney general Rodrigo Janot on Thursday brought criminal charges against President Michel Temer before the Supreme Court, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Temer and six of his associates, including jailed ex-speaker parliamentary Eduardo Cunha, have been charged with involvement in a criminal organization and obstruction of justice.
The prosecutor’s office has accused Temer of running a criminal scheme since his time as vice president to commit "illicit actions in exchange for bribes" that brought them at least 587 million Brazilian reals ($188.4 mln) in illegal proceeds.
The alleged criminal ring is suspected of getting kickbacks from large firms in exchange for securing contracts with state-run oil firm Petrobras and loans from Brazil’s second largest bank, Caixa Economica.
Temer is also accused of having solicited bribes from Joesley Batista, a former chief of the JBS meat-packing giant, to silence Lucio Funaro, who made a plea bargain with the government to testify against the president.
The new charges come a month after the embattled president survived a parliamentary vote that rejected another bribery charge against him. Their backing would have sent the corruption case to the top court, which has the power to trigger an impeachment trial.
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