Former Rousseff ally handed 15-year jail term for graft
João Vaccari Neto, the former treasurer of Brazil's ruling workers' party, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Monday for his role in a multibillion-dollar graft scheme at state-run oil firm Petrobras.
The 56-year-old (pictured) is the first politician to be found guilty of charges related to the federal police's Lava Jato corruption probe. He was one of 10 people convicted by judge Sérgio Moro of corruption, money laundering and criminal association, according to the official Agência Brasil news service.
Prosecutors successfully argued that Vaccari received at least 4.26mn reais (US$1.1mn) in kickbacks from an engineering contract signed by Petrobras with local consortium Interpar.
The heaviest sentence was a 20-year jail term handed to former Petrobras services director Renato Duque.
Monday's rulings came just hours after federal police arrested José Antunes Sobrinho, an executive at local engineering firm Engevix. Sobrinho is accused of bribing officials at the nuclear unit of state-run utility Eletrobras for contracts to build the 20bn-real Angra 3 power plant.
Prosecutor Carlos Fernando dos Santos Lima said the probe would now focus on allegations that the Eletronuclear and Petrobras corruption rings were connected to a vote-buying scheme involving the government of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
"I have no doubt it is the same criminal organization and people linked to political parties," Lima told reporters.
Both Lula and his hand-picked successor, President Dilma Rousseff, have denied any involvement in the scandal.
Rousseff has seen her popularity dive since the Lava Jato probe began in March 2014. Recent polls place her approval rating below 10% amid growing calls for her impeachment.
Lula was last week summoned for questioning by Brazil's supreme court after investigators said he could have personally benefited from the graft racket.
Rousseff has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing despite heading Petrobras' board when some of the corruption is alleged to have taken place.
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