Operation Car Wash was the biggest anti-corruption effort in Brazil’s history. Across over six years of activities, the probe sentenced 165 people for crimes of corruption, investigated some 500 others, and recovered BRL 4 billion (USD 740 million) to the public treasury.
The sheer size and scope of Operation Car Wash saw its investigations spill over Brazil’s borders and into its Latin American neighbors. As the probe grew and spread, it led to the arrest of six former presidents in Peru, Panama, and El Salvador, as well as Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Michel Temer....