Brazilian police launched a vast operation on Thursday with searches targeting left-wing senator Jaques Wagner, a close ally of President Lula, for his alleged involvement in a financial scandal which is shaking the political scene in the run-up to the October presidential election.
The Federal Police (PF) announced that they had carried out 18 searches in three Brazilian states as part of the investigation into the private bank Banco Master, liquidated after having accumulated billions of euros in debt, and into the suspicious links of its owner, Daniel Vorcaro, with personalities from the highest spheres of power.
This new twist in an affair that has been making a lot of noise in Brazil for several months comes as Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will try to be re-elected for a fourth non-consecutive term in October.
Jacques Wagner, 75, refuted the accusations to the Band News channel: "I have never received money from anyone, even less from Master."
The agents went to several addresses linked to Jaques Wagner as part of searches authorized by the Supreme Court, according to a judicial decision consulted by AFP.
The senator said the agents arrived at his home at dawn and "broke down" his door.
- Corruption and money laundering -
Former governor of the state of Bahia (north-east) and ex-minister of Defense under left-wing president Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016), this influential 75-year-old parliamentarian is the leader of the Lula government's parliamentary bloc in the Senate.
According to the Supreme Court order, he is suspected of having received "undue economic advantages" exceeding one million euros, including an apartment, bank transfers and the use of private jets.
In return, investigators believe that he acted to defend the interests of Banco Master, by lobbying the Senate for the examination of a constitutional amendment - which was unsuccessful - aimed at increasing the ceiling of the guarantee fund of the Brazilian banking system.
“The facts which are the subject of the investigation can, in theory, constitute offenses of passive corruption, active corruption and money laundering,” said the federal police in its press release.
Edinho Silva, president of the Workers' Party (PT) of Lula and Jaques Wagner, said he was "confident" in the senator's ability to "clarify the facts and prove his innocence".
The Banco Master scandal began in November when it was liquidated after proving insolvent, having accumulated more than six billion euros in debts to 800,000 investors.
- Searches targeting left and right -
The investigation then focused on suspicious links with political and judicial circles. Arrested in March, the number one of this bank, Daniel Vorcaro, boasted to the police of having “friends” in high places.
The Senate
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