Operation Car Wash: the sprawling corruption probe that led to the downfall of former Brazilian president Lula

Current President Michel Temer is also facing charges, recently becoming Brazil’s first sitting president to be hit with a corruption accusation. Here is a look at the sprawling investigation.

How did it start?

Launched in March 2014, the “Operation Car Wash” probe began as an investigation into money laundering led by police and prosecutors of the southwestern state of Parana. It started a few miles away from Brazil’s Congress when gas station owner and black money dealer Carlos Habib Chater was arrested. Investigators discovered Chater was doing business with convicted money launderer Alberto Youssef, who had bought a Range Rover for Paulo Roberto Costa, a former executive at Petrobras, the mammoth state oil company. Yousseff and Costa eventually reached plea bargains that opened windows onto an immense graft scheme.

How did the scheme work?

Prosecutors say executives of major construction companies such as Odebrecht, OAS and Andrade Gutierrez effectively formed a cartel that decided which firms would be awarded Petrobras contracts, often worth billions of dollars, and how overpriced each deal would be. The padded prices were used to pay off dozens of politicians and Petrobras executives, investigators say.

Who has been caught?

The dozens of top businessmen and politicians who have already been convicted or are being investigated is a who’s who of Brazil’s elite. Among them are former Odebrecht CEO Marcelo Odebrecht and former Chamber of Deputies Speaker Eduardo Cunha, both of whom are serving long prison sentences. In addition to the case in which he was convicted, Silva is facing charges in several related cases.