Brazil Lawmaker Eduardo Cunha to Face Congressional Probe

Brazil Lawmaker Eduardo Cunha to Face Congressional Probe
Fecha de publicación: 
15 December 2015
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Brazilian House Speaker Eduardo Cunha is set to face a congressional investigation as the Ethics Commission voted on Tuesday to move forward with a probe to review Cunha’s position in public office in light of corruption charges against him, local media reported.

Cunha’s allies have already sought seven delays in the process to investigate Cunha in Congress, and had attempted an eighth delay which is now effectively rejected with the Ethics Commission’s ruling. The Commission voted 11 to nine in favor of the investigation.

However, Cunha’s allies now plan to appeal the decision. Cunha, as the head of the Lower House, will oversee the appeal of the decision to investigate him.

If the appeal fails and the investigation moves forward, the process could result in Congress stripping Cunha of his political mandate and dismissing him from Congress.

Charges for corruption and money laundering were filed against Cunha in August. He is accused of taking close to US$5 million in bribes to secure contracts with the state-run oil company Petrobras and hiding money in Swiss banks.

The decision in Congress comes just hours after Brazilian police raided Cunha’s home on Tuesday morning. Police surrounded Cunha's home in Brasilia, while they also raided a property of his in Rio de Janeiro in search for evidence linked to the corruption scandal that has rocked the country's political sector.

Brazilian police raid Eduardo Cunha's house

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The raids are part of a larger anti-corruption operations including 53 probes across various states in which some of President Dilma Rousseff’s allies are also implicated, according to local media.

Cunha is accused of receiving US$5 million in kickbacks between 2006 and 2012 as part of the Petrobras scandal corruption ring. He is accused of hiding the earnings in Swiss bank accounts. The government of Switzerland confirmed in October that it had frozen Cunha’s bank accounts and assets over suspected money laundering. A Brazilian federal court also seized 2.4 million Swiss francs from an account belonging to Cunha.

Cunha has denied any wrongdoing.

The decision also comes as opposition is pushing for Rousseff’s impeachment. Cunha kicked off a process of attempting to impeach President Dilma Rousseff on Dec. 2.

Cunha is a member of the PMDB party and self-described adversary of Rousseff despite his party being in alliance with the ruling PT party. He left the PMDB-PT coalition in July. Vice President Michel Temer has maintained his alliance with Rousseff, though has increasingly given signals of an impending break with Rousseff, which could determine the outcome of the impeachment proceedings.

Cunha's decision to begin the proceedings has been interpreted as a retaliatory move after three lawmakers from Rousseff's PT party stated that they would vote to remove Cunha from his position over corruption allegations.

The Petrobras scandal has implicated roughly 50 politicians, among them the former treasurer of the Workers’ Party João Vaccari, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes from the petroleum company.

The Lower House has ten days to hear Cunha’s defense regarding the investigation.

 

 

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