The rise and fall of Fernando Collor: from hunting Maharajas to a prison sentence

Brazil’s Supreme Court formed a 6-1 majority on Thursday to convict former President Fernando Collor on charges of corruption, money laundering, and conspiracy. Three justices are left to vote, and the trial is not yet over, but the outcome is now certain.

Mr. Collor was once the most powerful man in Brazil. In late 1989, he defeated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s first presidential election by popular vote after the military dictatorship (1964-1985). Brazil’s best-selling weekly news magazine Veja dubbed him “the Maharaja hunter.” The “Maharajas,” in this case, were Brazilian public officials who made obscene amounts of money through abusive but legal maneuvers.

Fit, 40 years young, and from a rich and powerful family, the then-governor of the northeastern state of Alagoas presented a stark contrast to Lula, an unkempt, bearded trade union leader born into extreme poverty and with little formal education. Mr. Collor defeated Lula in a runoff election, 53 percent to 47 percent, in what remained Brazil’s closest presidential election until 2014.

On his second day in office, in March 1990, Mr. Collor announced an unprecedented measure: the confiscation (officially “freezing” for 18 months) of financial assets worth nearly...