Judge's decision on accepting charges against Lula expected Monday
Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gave a press statement about the charges filed against him by the Federal Prosecution Service as part of Operation Car Wash. 
The indictment of former Brazil president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is now pending before Federal Judge Sérgio Moro in Curitiba, Paraná. He has five days to decide whether to accept the charges filed by the prosecutors working in the Operation Car Wash task force set up to investigate the massive corruption scandal involving Petrobras. According to the press office of the federal court in Paraná, the judge's decision will be published on Monday (Sept. 19).
If Moro upholds the charges, Lula will become a defendant in the case, alongside his wife Marisa Letícia; Paulo Okamoto, chairman of Instituto Lula; Leo Pinheiro, former CEO of OAS construction company; and four people linked to the company.
It is the first time formal charges have been preferred against the former president in a federal court. He is accused of corruption and money laundering by the 13 prosecutors who signed the charging instrument. They claim Lula used a “criminal scheme” to muster political for his government by paying kickbacks to lawmakers and doling out public jobs.
The charging document gave details of the allegations against Lula and the other corruption indictees. It said the former president tried to secure lucrative contracts with Petrobras for CONPAR and CONEST consortia (in which OAS had a stake), for a project involving two Petrobras refineries between 2006 and 2012. The consortia are alleged to have secured contracts through the payment of kickbacks to a number of recipients including former president Lula.
The second accusation, money laundering, was nearly 50 pages long and consisted of two parts. The first one revolved around a triplex beach apartment in Guarujá, São Paulo, which according to prosecutors was purchased, renovated, and decorated by OAS for Lula and his wife as a kickback for the former president's favors in the Petrobras scheme.
The prosecutors also accused Lula of receiving improper advantages from OAS through a personal property storage contract.
The 13 prosecutors g the document have not sought arrest warrants for any of the indictees. Prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, leader of the task force that pressed the charges, said it was “standard” practice to avoid “prejudice”.
However, they request that Judge Sérgio Moro order the former president to pay back $26.3 million to Petrobras's coffers. They have also listed 27 witnesses to be heard should the charges be upheld.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Judge's decision on accepting charges against Lula expected Monday
