Amid the controversy of the presidential election, Brazil’s attentions are exclusively turned toward the next four years. With the genuine fears, blustery scare tactics, and allegations of electoral fraud, several current issues have passed by completely unnoticed. How many Brazilians, for instance, are aware that the Federal Police recently sent a report to the office of the Federal Attorney General, stating that sitting president Michel Temer received at least BRL 5.9 million (USD 1.6 million) in bribes as part of a criminal scheme which has been in place since 1995? Very few, I would guess.
Mr. Temer, who will see his disastrous term as president come to an end in December, has been under investigation by the Feds since last year. A police inquiry was opened after he signed a controversial decree extending the concessions of companies operating at the port of Santos. It was suggested that Mr. Temer received kickbacks in exchange for signing the order. The Federal Police confirmed this in its report.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Feds indicted 10 people as part of its investigation, including Mr. Temer and his daughter, Maristela Temer. The Public Prosecution Service will now decide whether to charge the individuals involved. Due to his jurisdictional prerogative as a member of the Executive branch, the president cannot be charged by a trial court while in office. He is likely to face these charges come January 2019.</span></p>
<h2>The investigation</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Federal Police report is remarkably detailed, highlighting Mr. Temer’s involvement in a “criminal organization” dating back to 1995 when the then member of Congress was put in charge of naming the president of the São Paulo State Docks Company (Codesp). In the years that followed, Codesp carried out the process of awarding port terminal concessions to the private sector. Many of these bidding processes involved huge sums of money and were the object of legal disputes. The police report contains circumstantial evidence that Michel Temer, his appointed Codesp president Marcelo de Azeredo, and Mr. Temer’s close friend João Baptista Lima Filho, all received kickbacks from two of the port lessors.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_10320" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10320" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-10320" src="https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/divisao_interna_19102018-1024x858.jpg" alt="Evidence criminal michel temer" width="1024" height="858" srcset="https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/divisao_interna_19102018-1024x858.jpg 1024w, https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/divisao_interna_19102018-300x252.jpg 300w, https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/divisao_interna_19102018-768x644.jpg 768w, https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/divisao_interna_19102018-610x511.jpg 610w, https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/divisao_interna_19102018.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-10320" class="wp-caption-text">Evidence found by the Police: Michel Temer – 30%</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the last two decades, Michel Temer has gone from being a substitute member of Congress to becoming President of Brazil. Over the same period, Mr. Temer and his family have gone from having a real estate wealth of just over BRL 6 million to amassing one of over BRL 33 million. Much of this fortune was built with the help of his friend, retired police colonel João Baptista Lima Filha, part-owner of architecture firm Argeplan.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 1988, the company was responsible for remodeling Mr. Temer’s house in São Paulo, and then again in 1999, albeit now at a different address. Argeplan also handled renovation works at a house acquired by the president’s daughter, Maristela, in 2014. According to the Policia Federal, the project cost BRL 1.6 million, BRL 950,000 of which was paid in cash. As a result, Michel Temer, Maristela, and Colonel Lima (as well as other members of Argeplan) were indicted for money laundering.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Back in 1992, when Mr. Temer was at the head of the São Paulo Public Security Department, the Military Police signed 29 contracts with Argeplan – 24 more than in the previous year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In his short stint in charge of the country, Michel Temer has already <a href="https://www.dci.com.br/colunistas/direto-de-brasilia/camara-n-o-deve-apreciar-nova-denuncia-contra-temer-1.750069">faced</a> two criminal charges from the Attorney General’s office. In August 2017, he was accused of benefiting from bribes paid by meatpacking giant JBS, while in October the same year, then-Attorney General Rodrigo Janot indicted him for obstruction of justice and criminal organization. Both charges were voted down by the lower house of Congress, meaning the procedures will only be resumed once he leaves office.
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Temer: decades of bribes, according to the Feds
