Former Brazil president Michel Temer arrested on corruption charges
- Prosecutors say a construction company bribed Temer in exchange for a contract to build a nuclear power plant in southern Rio de Janeiro state
Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges, a dramatic development in a sprawling corruption probe that has roiled Latin America’s largest nation for years and shows no sign of slowing.
Judge Marcelo Bretas issued an arrest order for the ex-president as well as former Cabinet minister and Temer ally Moreira Franco and eight others.
According to the prosecutors, construction company Engevix paid Temer bribes in exchange for a contract to build a nuclear power plant in the city of Angra dos Reis in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro state.
Prosecutors said in a statement that one Engevix executive said in plea bargain testimony that he paid more than US$300,000 in 2014 to a company owned by a close Temer associate, Colonel Joao Baptista Lima Filho. An arrest warrant was also issued for Lima Filho.
While the charges against Temer were narrow, prosecutors told reporters the former president and several associates engaged in pay-for-play deals involving kickbacks since the 1980s that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes.
