Brazil’s ex-president Lula charged with being ‘maximum commander’ of vast graft scheme

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Brazilian former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva poses with his hands covered in oil in 2010 as he takes part in the launch of an oil platform owned by Petrobras, the state-run energy company now at the centre of a vast corruption scandal. Photo: EPA

Published: 9:18am, 15 Sep 2016Updated: 8:48pm, 15 Sep 2016

Brazilian investigators on Wednesday charged former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with money laundering and corruption, calling him the “maximum commander” of the mammoth graft scandal roiling Latin America’s largest nation.

While the charges against Silva were expected — police recommended them last month — the characterisation of his role in the kickback scheme at state oil company Petrobras was stunning.

The so-called Car Wash investigation the last two years has led to the jailing of dozens of businessmen and top politicians. While Silva, president between 2003 and 2010, has long been implicated, before Wednesday prosecutors had never said that he was anything more than a beneficiary.

Silva was “the maximum commander of the corruption scheme identified as Car Wash” Deltan Dallagnol, head of the task force investigating, said during a televised news conference from the southern city of Curitiba.

Deltan Dallagnol, a Brazilian government attorney in charge of the investigation into alleged Petrobras corruption scheme speaks during a press conference in Curitiba, Brazil, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

“We are not judging here who (Silva) is or was as a person, but what he did or didn’t do to the people,” Dallagnol said.