Brasilia – Brazil’s chief prosecutor filed charges Tuesday with the nation’s Supreme Court against two former top aides to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and 38 other people in connection with a slush-fund run by the ruling Workers Party, or PT.
Charged along with erstwhile presidential press secretary Luiz Gushiken and Lula’s ex-chief of staff, Jose Dirceu, were the men heading the PT when the scandal broke last year: Jose Genoino, Silvio Pereira and Delubio Soares.
Thirteen lawmakers were also named in the accusation presented by Antonio Fernando de Souza, who was acting pursuant to instructions from a congressional committee that investigated the slush-fund.
The other prominent names in the brief filed Tuesday are those of public relations consultants Eduardo “Duda” Mendonca, who managed Lula’s 2002 presidential campaign, and Marcos Valerio Fernandes, said to have been the chief bag man in the illicit financial transactions.
The PT is accused of having used the illegal secret fund to bribe lawmakers to support Lula’s program, as the president’s own party did not enjoy a majority in the legislature.
Though the leftist party eventually acknowledged having the slush-fund, it maintains that the money was used only for campaign expenses and flatly denies the bribery allegations.
Fernando de Souza, whose brief offered a figure of nearly $900 million for the amount of money that flowed through the secret fund, said his office is reviewing evidence against scores of other people named in the congressional report before deciding whether to file charges.
Indictments of Dirceu and Gushiken could harm Lula’s chances for winning a second four-year term in the October election, if he decides to run again.
Though Lula appeared to have rebounded somewhat from the damage the PT corruption scandal did to his popularity, his standing is likely to suffer if the media is filled with stories about two of his closest confidants facing trial for alleged wrongdoing while working in the presidential palace.
