Brazil's Attorney General Rodrigo Janot has asked the Supreme Court to authorise an investigation against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for his involvement in the Petrobras scandal, and current President Dilma Rousseff for attempting to obstruct the investigation against Lula, reports said on Wednesday. Janot has accused Lula of receiving kickbacks from the state-run oil company.
Janot sought the investigation against Rousseff — who is already facing an impeachment vote — on the basis of Senator Delcidio do Amaral's confession during his plea bargain. He was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that the president knew about the rigging and tried to suppress an investigation into the Petrobras case.
BBC quoted Janot as saying that the corruption in the oil company was not possible without Lula's participation. The corruption case has left the political machinery in the country in a disturbed state.
Janot on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to authorise the investigation. The apex court has, however, not done so yet.
Earlier, accusations against Lula claimed that he received a penthouse from a construction company that was part of the Petrobras corruption case, an allegation that he has denied. However, Janot in his recent plea to the Supreme Court, has said that Lula and other ministers had created a scheme to carve off money from the oil company. Janot has sought an investigation against 30 people, including politicians, businessmen and officials, BBC reported. The Speaker of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, who was spearheading the impeachment bid against Rousseff and Rousseff, was named in the list.
Consultant Julio Camargo, who was sentenced to 14 years in jail in August 2015 in the Petrobras case, had said that Cunha had asked for a $5 million bribe. A lobbyist, Fernando Soares, who was sentenced to 16 years in jail in the case, was accused of directing bribes for funding Cunha's party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement party (PMDB), the Guardian reported.
