Brazil’s former president Fernando Collor arrested for corruption conviction
São Paulo (AP) – Former Brazilian President Fernando Collor was arrested earlier Friday in the northeastern state of Aragos and ordered to begin serving his sentence on charges of his 2023 jail sentence for a corruption conviction.
Collor was found guilty of reais ($20 million) in order to promote a contract between BR Distractuidora, a fuel distributor previously controlled by state-owned oil company Petrobras, and construction company UTC Engenharia, to build a fuel distribution base. In return, he appointed executives at BR Distribuidora political support while still state-owned.
From 1990 to 1992, Collor was sentenced to eight years and 10 months to the country, initially sentenced to prison rather than arrest.
Under the Brazilian legal system, cases involving members of Congress, president and ministers went directly to the Supreme Court. He has not been jailed yet because his lawyer is still appealing.
The case stems from the car wash, a thorough corruption investigation involving top Latin American politicians and businessmen, including the current president Luiz Inácio Lulada Silva, who was arrested and imprisoned for nearly two years in 2018.
Collor, 75, was the first Brazilian president elected in 1989 after his 21st military dictatorship in 1989. He was impeached by Congress in 1992 and removed from the office after allegations of corruption. In 2007, he was elected as a senator, representing him in the state of Aragos in northeastern Brazil.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest of the former president on Thursday, and the board of directors is scheduled to vote on Friday whether to confirm the decision. De Moraes said in his decision that the collider should begin serving his sentence, noting that the former president’s lawyers tried to drag out the lawsuit through appeals.
The judge also said the court had previously ruled in similar cases that once an appeal had no advantage, it could serve its sentence immediately.
Collor’s attorneys did not immediately respond to the Associated Press’ request for comment.
