The former governor of Rio de Janeiro state was arrested on Thursday as part of a corruption investigation linked to a World Cup project and other works worth billions of dollars, in a blow to Brazil’s ruling party that may fuel political instability.

Federal prosecutors accused Sergio Cabral, 53, of leading a criminal organization that took 224 million reais ($66 million) in bribes from construction firms in exchange for infrastructure contracts from 2007 to 2014, the years he served as governor.

The projects included the renovation of the famed Maracana soccer stadium, where the final match of soccer’s 2014 World Cup was held, along with public works in some of Rio’s biggest slums and the construction of a major highway around the city’s outskirts.

Federal police and prosecutors are also investigating several infrastructure projects related to this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. They have not yet taken any action on those inquiries.

As Cabral, the most powerful figure in Rio politics for the past decade, was driven out of the garage of his apartment building on Thursday morning in a black federal police SUV, dozens of people who had gathered hurled insults as TV cameramen and photographers encircled the vehicle.

Cabral made no comment. His lawyer declined to comment when reached by phone.

Following anti-corruption rallies, Cabral resigned his governorship in April 2014 with nine months left in his second term.

Cabral’s arrest capped the decline of the Rio de Janeiro branch of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), President Michel Temer’s party, which was voted out of the city government last month amid graft probes into a number of its prominent figures.

“It creates a nervous environment which could delay our economic recovery if investors get cold feet,” a presidential aide told Reuters. The aide also said the Rio state government was close to insolvency, and the Temer administration fears a domino effect hitting the finances of other Brazilian states.

Cabral is the latest high-profile politician to be arrested in a two-year corruption probe known as operation “Car Wash,” which began by unraveling a massive political kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.

Cabral was a close ally of former President Dilma Rousseff, removed from office in August on charges of illegally using money from state banks to bankroll public spending, and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose trial on corruption charges in the Petrobras probe begins on Monday.

Executives from several construction firms have turned state’s witness and the companies have signed leniency deals. That has provided testimony about endemic corruption in Brazil’s political and business establishment, igniting dozens of new inquiries like the one resulting in Cabral’s detention.

Testimony from executives of the construction and engineering firms Andrade Gutierrez and Carioca Engenharia formed the basis of Thursday’s arrests, prosecutors said.

“There are strong indications of the cartelization of works executed with federal resources, through the payment of bribes to Sergio Cabral and other (state) employees,” federal prosecutor Lauro Coelho said.

Operation Car Wash also stoked the political upheaval that ultimately toppled leftist president Rousseff.

“Cabral’s arrest is unlikely to hit the Temer administration directly, but it will fuel political instability as the investigation seems to be setting its sight on the PMDB and other parties,” Leonardo Barreto of Brasilia-based consultancy Factual Informacao e Analise said.

Cabral’s arrest came a day after another former Rio governor, Anthony Garotinho, was arrested for alleged voter fraud in a state struggling with a severe fiscal crisis and austerity protests. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO - Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was arrested Thursday on corruption charges, a dramatic development in a sprawling graft probe that has roiled Latin America’s largest nation and shows no sign of slowing.

Judge Marcelo Bretas issued an arrest order for the ex-president as well as former Cabinet minister and Temer ally Moreira Franco and eight others.

According to the prosecutors, construction company Engevix paid Temer bribes in exchange for a contract to build a nuclear power plant in the city of Angra dos Reis in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro state.

Prosecutors said in a statement that one Engevix executive said in plea bargain testimony that he paid more than $300,000 in 2014 to a company owned by a close Temer associate, Col. Joao Baptista Lima Filho. An arrest warrant was also issued for Lima Filho.

While the charges against Temer were narrow, prosecutors told reporters during a press conference that the former president and several associates had been engaging in pay-for-play deals involving kickbacks since the 1980s that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes.

“This is a criminal organization that has been up until now led by Michel Temer,” said Fabiana Schneider, one of the prosecutors.

In his arrest order, Bretas wrote that arresting Temer was necessary to make sure he didn’t destroy evidence.

The case is one of 10 criminal investigations into Temer, a career politician known for his ability to wheel and deal behind the scenes in the capital of Brasilia. He has denied any wrongdoing.

“Justice was created for all and everyone must respond for his own actions,” President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who ran on promises to crack down on endemic corruption, told reporters while on a state visit to Chile.

Temer was taken into custody in Sao Paulo, where he lives, and taken by plane to Rio de Janeiro, where he would be processed.

“It is evident the total lack of foundations for the arrest, which serves only to display the former president as a trophy to those that, under the pretext of fighting corruption, mock the basic rules of the constitution,” Temer lawyer Eduardo Pizarro Carnelos said in a statement.

Bretas, the judge, is overseeing the Rio portion of a massive corruption probe involving kickbacks to politicians and public officials. Since launching in March 2014, the so-called Car Wash investigation has led to the jailing of top businessmen and politicians, including ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who Brazilians universally call Lula.

Former Judge Sergio Moro, who oversaw many Car Wash cases and became an internationally known anti-corruption crusader, stepped down at the end of last year to become justice minister.

Many worried that Moro’s absence could hurt the investigations. And the Car Wash probe has suffered a handful of recent defeats, including a decision by the Supreme Court to allow some corruption cases involving campaign finance, which figured heavily in the probe, to be tried by electoral courts.

This week, Moro himself suffered a setback when the speaker of the lower Chamber of Deputies in Congress slammed a tough-on-crime bill the former judge put forward and said it would only be considered after a major reform to the pension system.

Bretas’ decision to arrest Temer will go a long way to answering questions about the future of the probe.

“If Lula and Temer can go to jail, who cannot?” said Carlos Melo, political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. “There are several formerly high-ranking politicians not in office at the moment, which makes them more exposed to police investigations.”

Temer, who was vice president, came to the presidency in 2016 after President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and ousted from office for mismanaging the federal budget.

Rousseff and allies in her Workers’ Party accused Temer of orchestrating her ouster, which he denied.

From the get-go, Temer’s administration was hit with several scandals, including some involving the president himself. Temer’s approval ratings were routinely below 10 percent, and he was frequently booed.

In the course of less than two years, three times the attorney general charged Temer, twice with corruption and one with obstruction of justice. Because he was a sitting president, he could only be tried if two-thirds of the lower chamber in Congress agreed. Temer twice mustered enough support in Congress to avoid prosecution and his term ended before the third case proceeded far enough for Congress to vote.

Temer, 78, left office on Jan. 1 and no longer has the partial immunity that helped him avoid prosecution.

Asked about looming cases against him in December, Temer said he wasn’t worried and did not believe he would be arrested.

“I’m calm. I am not the least bit worried,” Temer said. “Those (charges) are such absurd things that a more objective and less passionate mind will see that and will say, ‘those allegations are irrelevant.’”

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO — Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges, a dramatic development in a sprawling graft probe that has roiled Latin America’s largest nation and shows no sign of slowing.

In a statement, the Prosecutor’s Office in Rio de Janeiro said that Judge Marcelo Breitas had issued an arrest order for Temer, as well as Moreira Franco, a former minister and close ally of Temer, and eight others.

Construction company Engevix paid Temer bribes in exchange for a contract to build a nuclear power plant in the city of Angra dos Reis in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro state, prosecutors said.

One of the Engevix executives told prosecutors in a plea bargain testimony that he paid more than $300,000 in 2014 to a company owned by a close Temer associate, Col. Joao Baptista Lima Filho. An arrest warrant was also issued for Lima Filho.

Globo Television showed images of the former president being accompanied by police in Sao Paulo, where Temer lives. Helicopter images showed Temer getting out of a police convoy at an airport, presumably to be brought to Rio de Janeiro and processed.

Breitas is overseeing the Rio portion of a massive corruption probe involving kickbacks to politicians and public officials. Since launching in March 2014, the so-called Car Wash investigation has led to the jailing of top businessmen and politicians, including ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who Brazilians universally call Lula.

Former Judge Sergio Moro, who oversaw many Car Wash cases and became an internationally known anti-corruption crusader, stepped down at the end of last year to become justice minister.

Breitas’ decision to arrest Temer will go a long way to answering questions about the future of the probe.

“If Lula and Temer can go to jail, who cannot?” said Carlos Melo, political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. “There are several formerly high-ranking politicians not in office at the moment, which makes them more exposed to police investigations.” </s> RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A former minister and ally of embattled President Michel Temer has been taken arrested.

 The high-profile arrest comes Tuesday just hours before Brazil’s top electoral court begins the judgment phase in a trial that could result in Temer’s ouster.

Former Tourism Minister Henrique Eduardo Alves was taken into custody on allegations of corruption related to construction of a 2014 World Cup stadium in Natal.

Globo News captured images of Alves being arrested by federal police. Officials held a news conference later.

 Alves was tourism minister under President Dilma Rousseff and Temer, who assumed the country’s top post last year when Rousseff was removed for illegally managing the federal budget.

The arrest came before the Superior Electoral Court met to study allegations the 2014 Rousseff-Temer ticket received illegal campaign financing. </s> Brazil’s ex-president Michel Temer was arrested Thursday, an official said, as part of a sprawling anti-corruption probe that has already claimed dozens of political and corporate scalps.

Police arrested Temer, the 78-year-old predecessor of current far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, in Sao Paulo, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office in Rio de Janeiro told AFP.

Former mines and energy minister Moreira Franco was also detained along with six others, including business people, G1 reported.

Temer, Brazil’s most unpopular leader ever, faced a number of corruption accusations on leaving office last year.

Launched in 2014, the Car Wash investigation uncovered a vast graft operation involving Petrobras and major construction companies and bribes to politicians of several parties.

Temer is just the latest former president caught up in the probe that has rocked Brazil’s business and political elites.

The center-right politician took over as a caretaker figure after the last Workers Party president, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached and removed from office in 2016.

Former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is serving a lengthy jail term after being found guilty in two corruption cases.

Far-right leader Bolsonaro campaigned on a hard line against corruption and crime and his victory in October’s election was in part attributed to the Car Wash investigation. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian federal investigators have charged former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with money laundering and corruption.

The charges announced Wednesday are in connection with a sprawling corruption investigation at state-run oil giant Petrobras.

Silva, his wife and five others are accused of illegally benefiting from renovations at a beachfront apartment in the coastal city of Guaruja, in Sao Paulo state. The improvements were made by constructors involved in the kickback scheme emanating from Petrobras.

FILE - In this Aug. 29, 2016 file photo, Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends the impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil. Federal investigators charged Lula with money laundering and corruption on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016 in connection with a sprawling corruption investigation at state-run oil giant Petrobras. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Silva acknowledges having visited the penthouse but says he never owned it.

Police recommended the charges last month. Judge Sergio Moro must now decide whether Silva will stand trial.

In a separate case related to Petrobras, Silva will go on trial charged with obstruction of justice. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil's ex-president Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday (Mar 21) as part of a sprawling anti-corruption probe that has already claimed dozens of political and corporate scalps, media reports said.

Temer, the predecessor of current President Jair Bolsonaro, was Brazil's most unpopular leader ever and faced a number of corruption accusations on leaving office last year.

Police arrested Temer in Sao Paulo on the order of a federal criminal judge, reports said. Former mines and energy minister Moreira Franco was also detained.

The so-called Car Wash investigation uncovered a vast graft operation involving Petrobras and major construction companies and bribes to politicians of several parties.

Temer, a centre-right politician, took over as a caretaker figure after the last Workers Party president, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached and removed from office in 2016. </s> Eike Batista, a former Brazilian oil and mining magnate, has been transferred to a high security prison in Rio following his arrival from New York on Monday morning.

The 60-year-old, who was Brazil's richest man once had reportedly paid a $16.5m (£13.2m) bribe to former Rio De Janeiro governor Sergio Cabral to secure contracts with the state government. Cabral was arrested in November in a corruption probe named Operation Car Wash.

At least 100 people including building tycoon Marcelo Odebrecht have been convicted for racketeering, money laundering and bribery, in the operation.

Before boarding a plane at New York to turn himself in, Batista told O Globo that he was surrendering to clear his name.

"I'm at the disposal of the courts. As a Brazilian, I am doing my duty," he said. He was first sent to Ary Franco prison in Rio, which is said to be severely crowded and filthy. After taking medical tests and shaving his head, he was later transferred to the much bigger Bangu complex.

Suspects of corruption benefit from a Brazilian law that puts university degree holders in better jail cells than those without a degree. As Batista dropped out of engineering college in Germany and never graduated, he will serve his sentence in an ordinary cell with six other inmates at the Bangu complex.

He was declared a fugitive after Rio police raided his residence last week and found that he had left for New York just hours earlier. He will also be questioned about his alleged involvement in a corruption ring with links to some of the most powerful businessmen and politicians of Rio De Janeiro. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO, March 21 — Brazil’s ex-president Michel Temer was arrested today as part of a sprawling anti-corruption probe that has already claimed dozens of political and corporate scalps, media reports said.

Temer, the predecessor of current President Jair Bolsonaro, was Brazil’s most unpopular leader ever and faced a number of corruption accusations on leaving office last year. — AFP
Former Rio de Janeiro governor Sérgio Cabral is arrested in corruption probe.