Operation Car Wash

This article is about the criminal investigation. For car washes, see Car wash (disambiguation).

Operation Car Wash
Operação Lava Jato

Clockwise from top left: Headquarters of Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro; Emblem of the Federal Police of Brazil; Deltan Dallagnol with Rodrigo Janot; Odebrecht logo; Federal Police in an operation; Judge Sergio Moro

Country: Brazil
Active: 17 March 2014 – 1 February 2021
Primary
judge: 		Sergio Moro
Mar 2014 – Nov 2018
Lead
prosecutor: 		Deltan Dallagnol
Mar 2014 – Sept 2020[1]
All judges
Judge:
(Curitiba)
Federal judge:
(Rio de Janeiro)
Federal judge:
(Brasília)
Federal judge
(Porto Alegre)
Judge:
(Superior Court of Justice)
Judge:
(Supreme Federal Court)
Under investigation: 429 individuals[9]
Indicted: 429[9]
Convicted: 159[9]
Companies involved: 18[9]
Countries involved: at least 11[10]
Misappropriated Petrobras funds: R$6.2 billion[11] (US$2.5 billion[12]: 16 )
Reimbursement requested by Petrobras: R$46.3 billion[13]: 147  (c. US$9 billion)
Recovered funds: R$3.28 billion[9][11]: 17 [13]: 321  (US$912 million[12]: 17 )
Penalties
paid by
Petrobras:
Political corruption
Forms and concepts
Anti-corruption
Corruption by country
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Central America
South America
Oceania

Operation Car Wash (Portuguese: Operação Lava Jato, Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [opeɾɐˈsɐ̃w lavɐ ˈʒatu]) was a landmark anti-corruption probe in Brazil.[14][15] Beginning in March 2014 as the investigation of a small car wash in Brasília over money laundering, the proceedings uncovered a massive corruption scheme in the Brazilian federal government, particularly in state-owned enterprises. The probe was conducted through a joint task force of agents in the federal police, revenue collection agency, internal audit office and antitrust regulator. Evidence was collected and presented to the court system by a team of federal prosecutors led by Deltan Dallagnol, while the judge in charge of the operation was Sergio Moro. Eventually, other federal prosecutors and judges would go on to oversee related cases under their jurisdictions in various Brazilian states. The operation implicated leading businessmen, federal congressmen, senators, state governors, federal government ministers, and former presidents Collor, Temer and Lula. Companies and individuals accused of involvement have agreed to pay 25 billion reais in fines and restitution of embezzled public funds.[16]

According to investigators, political appointees in state-owned enterprises systematically extorted bribes from private-sector suppliers. Part of these bribes was channeled to political parties (particularly the MDB, PT, PSDB and PP),[17] in order to illegally fund political campaigns (via caixa dois), as well as for personal gain.[18]: 60  The largest amounts of bribes were detected in oil giant Petrobras; company directors negotiated with contractors to receive illegal kickbacks ranging from 1% to 5% of disbursements.[19] Due to its pervasiveness in Petrobras, the scandal is also known as Petrolão (Portuguese for "big oil").[20] Investigators have also stated that contractors formed a cartel, involving the country's largest engineering conglomerates such as Odebrecht, Grupo OAS, Andrade Gutierrez, and Carioca Engenharia, to share government contracts among themselves and collude with corrupt politicians. Allegedly, the cartel also operated in contracts signed directly with government agencies, in projects such as the construction of football stadiums for the 2014 World Cup, the Angra 3 nuclear power plant, the Belo Monte dam, and the North-South and Fiol railways.[21][22] Prosecutors also tracked overseas operations, and cooperated with authorities from 61 countries, among which Switzerland, the United States and Peru were the most frequent collaborating parties.[19]

Appeals against rulings by Judge Sergio Moro were processed in the Brazilian justice system, in which the Supreme Federal Court (STF) is the court of last resort. Some of the contested issues were the stage at which convicted defendants would begin to serve their sentences, and the extensive use of plea bargains by prosecutors. In a 2016 decision penned by STF judge Teori Zavascki, the Court found that prison terms should be served once a sentence was confirmed by the local appeals court. This was welcomed by prosecutors as an incentive against illegal practices.[23] Teori Zavascki, the judge overseeing the prosecution, died in a plane crash off the coast of Paraty, in January 2017, and the investigation lost a key backer in the Supreme Federal Court.[24] In 2019, the STF reverted its ruling, and decided that prison sentences only take effect in Brazil after all possible appeals to higher courts are exhausted.[25]

In January 2019, Sergio Moro announced that he would resign from his position as a federal judge, to join the incoming administration of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro as Justice Minister. This move drew criticism, since Moro had sentenced former President Lula, Bolsonaro's leading rival in the presidential race. Moro fell out of favor with Bolsonaro and left his post in April 2020.[26] He was replaced as the judge in the case by Luiz Bonat.[27]

The probe's reputation was further damaged by revelations arising from a leak of personal conversations between investigators by hacker Walter Delgatti. Delgatti hacked the online communications of investigative authorities over Telegram groups. Dubbed Vaza Jato, the leak purports to expose undue pre-trial coordination between Judge Moro and prosecutors in the case to produce evidence, direct hearings and discuss possible sentencing.[28] The hacking leak was published in the press by The Intercept Brasil and journalist Glenn Greenwald, who claimed that Moro passed on "advice, investigative leads, and inside information to the prosecutors" to "prevent Lula's Workers' Party from winning" the 2018 Brazilian general election.[29] Moro and Dallagnol deny any wrongdoing; they maintain that the contents of the leak have not been confirmed and that, furthermore, no proof of illegal conduct was present in the leaks.[30][31] Nevertheless, the leaks marked a shift in public opinion, having caused the investigation to lose support.[32] The taskforce was officially disbanded on 1 February 2021.[33][34]

Over time, the methods of prosecutors came under strong criticism from Supreme Federal Court judges. In March 2019, judge Gilmar Mendes referred, in a Court session, to Operation Car Wash investigators as "gangsters and scum", adding that their "methods dishonor institutions".[35] In September 2023, STF judge Dias Toffoli stated that the arrest of President Lula was a "setup", "one of the gravest errors in the country's judicial history", and declared all evidence obtained from a settlement with Odebrecht null and void, adding that Operation Car Wash acted as a "21st century pau de arara".[36] Chief prosecutor Augusto Aras believes that Operation Car Wash left a "cursed legacy".[37]

  1. ^ Paraguassu, Lisandra; Brito, Ricardo; Boadle, Anthony (1 September 2020). "Head of Brazil's 'Car Wash' anti-graft task force quits with team's future in doubt". Brasilia. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  2. ^ Dantas, Dimitrius (28 February 2017). "'Terabytes' turbinam Lava-Jato". Extra. Globo. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Desembargador assina exoneração e juiz Sérgio Moro deixa a Lava a jato". R7. Record. 16 November 2018.
  4. ^ Carvalho, Cleide (November 22, 2018), "Juíza Gabriela Hardt ficará à frente da Lava a jato em Curitiba até fim de abril (Judge Gabriela Hardt will be in charge of the Car Wash in Curitiba until the end of April)", O Globo, consulted on January 31, 2019.
  5. ^ Carvalho, Cleide (November 22, 2018), "JLuiz Antonio Bonat é confirmado na antiga vaga de Moro", O Globo , consulted on January 31, 2019
  6. ^ Conheça Leandro Paulsen, revisor do julgamento de Lula no TRF4 (Meet Leandro Paulsen, reviewer of Lula's trial at TRF4). Veja magazine. Publisher April. January 24, 2018 . Consulted on May 20, 2018
  7. ^ Dantas, Yuri (November 27, 2015). TRF4 nega HC a José Carlos Bumlai na Lava Jato (TRF4 denies HC to José Carlos Bumlai in Lava Jato). Jota. Consulted on May 20, 2018
  8. ^ Alegretti, Lais (December 17, 2015). 'Ministro Felix Fischer assume relatoria da Lava Jato no STJ (Minister Felix Fischer takes over Lava Jato's rapporteur at the STJ)" . G1 Globe . Retrieved March 29, 2017
  9. ^ a b c d e Ministério Publico Federal. "A Lava Jato em números no Paraná — Caso Lava Jato" [Car Wash by the Numbers in Paraná State - Car Wash Case]. www.mpf.mp.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  10. ^ Long, Ciara (17 June 2019). "Brazil's Car Wash Investigation Faces New Pressures". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d Petrobras - Demonstração Financeira 2018 [Petrobras - Financial Statement 2018] (PDF) (Report) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Petrobras. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e Petrobras - 2018 Financial Report (PDF) (Report). 27 February 2019.
  13. ^ a b c Petrobras - Formulário de Referência 2019 [Petrobras - Reference Form 2019] (PDF) (Report) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Petrobras. 2019.
  14. ^ "Petrobras scandal | Summary, Explanation, & Operation Car Wash | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  15. ^ Kurtenbach, S., & Nolte, D. (2017). Latin America's Fight against Corruption: The End of Impunity. GIGA Focus Lateinamerika, (03).
  16. ^ Marques, Hugo (4 April 2022). "A conta da corrupção: R$ 25 bilhões já retornaram aos cofres públicos" [The corruption bill: R$25 billion already returned to public coffers]. Veja (in Brazilian Portuguese). Grupo Abril. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  17. ^ Schreiber, Mariana (23 September 2022). "Lava Jato atingiu partidos de forma proporcional, mas PT foi foco de Moro, aponta estudo" [Operation Car Wash affected parties proportionally, but PT was Moro's focus, study shows]. BBC News. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  18. ^ Jones de Souza, Audrey; Borges Mendes, Raphael; Ribeiro Bastos, Jefferson Braga (2015). Official Car Wash Operation Financial Report (PDF) (Report) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Serviço Público Federal Mj - Departamento De Polícia Federal Superintendência Regional De Polícia Federal No Paraná Setor Técnico-científico [Federal Public Service Mj - Federal Police Department Federal Police Regional Superintendence in Paraná Technical-Scientific Sector]. 2311/2015-SETEC/SR/DPF/PR. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  19. ^ a b Ministério Publico Federal (24 November 2023). "Entenda o caso — Caso Lava Jato" [Understand the case - Operation Car Wash case]. MPF. Ministério Publico. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  20. ^ Connors, Will (6 April 2015). "How Brazil's 'Nine Horsemen' Cracked a Bribery Scandal". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  21. ^ ConJur, Redação (21 November 2018). "Em acordo com Cade, empreiteiras reconhecem cartel na "lava jato"". Consultor Jurídico. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  22. ^ ConJur, Redação (1 February 2017). "Cade aprova compromissos firmados com Andrade Gutierrez e UTC". Consultor Jurídico. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  23. ^ Alessi, Gil (6 October 2016). "STF ratifica regra para prisão defendida pela Operação Lava Jato". El País Brasil. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  24. ^ Valêncio, Brayan; Brembatti, Katia. "5 anos sem Teori Zavascki: o fiador da Lava Jato que morreu no auge da operação". CNN Brasil. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  25. ^ "STF volta a proibir prisão em 2ª instância; placar foi 6 a 5". Migalhas. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Sergio Moro renuncia ao Ministério da Justiça por 'interferências políticas' de Bolsonaro". noticias.uol.com.br. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  27. ^ Carvalho, Cleide (November 22, 2018), "Luiz Antonio Bonat é confirmado na antiga vaga de Moro", O Globo, consulted on January 31, 2019
  28. ^ Vincent Begins (21 August 2019). "The Dirty Problems With Operation Car Wash: News reports have pointed to serious wrongdoing at the heart of the anti-corruption inquiry that has shaken many Latin American countries". The Atlantic.
  29. ^ "Judge Sérgio Moro Directed Car Wash Prosecutors on Lula Case". The Intercept. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  30. ^ "Novos diálogos revelam que Moro orientava ilegalmente ações da Lava Jato". VEJA. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  31. ^ "'Vaza Jato foi uma grande fofoca querendo bancar de escândalo', diz Dallagnol – Jovem Pan". ‘Vaza Jato foi uma grande fofoca querendo bancar de escândalo’, diz Dallagnol – Jovem Pan. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  32. ^ Oliveira, Carla Jiménez, Felipe Betim, Regiane (4 February 2021). "Derrocada da Lava Jato expõe Moro como guia da força-tarefa, e escândalo cai no colo do Supremo". El País Brasil. Retrieved 9 April 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "MPF anuncia fim da força-tarefa da operação Lava Jato no Paraná". Poder360 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 3 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  34. ^ "Força-tarefa da Lava-Jato de Curitiba deixa de existir e passa a integrar grupo de combate ao crime organizado do MPF-PR". Extra Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). 3 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  35. ^ ""Gângster" e "gentalha": Gilmar Mendes ataca procuradores da Lava Jato | Metrópoles". www.metropoles.com. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  36. ^ "'Erro histórico', 'pau de arara do século 21': frases de Toffoli na decisão". UOL. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  37. ^ "Lava Jato tem legado maldito, diz Aras após Toffoli anular provas". Poder360. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2024.