Brazil's top federal prosecutor charged President Michel Temer on Monday with accepting bribes, the first of what is expected to be a series of graft allegations against the deeply unpopular leader in the coming weeks.

BRASILIA: Brazil's top federal prosecutor charged President Michel Temer on Monday with accepting bribes, the first of what is expected to be a series of graft allegations against the deeply unpopular leader in the coming weeks.

Prosecutor Rodrigo Janot delivered the charge to the Supreme Court and, under Brazilian law, the lower house of Congress must now vote on whether to allow the tribunal to try a sitting president.

Lawmakers within Temer's coalition are confident they have the votes to block the two-third majority required to proceed with a trial. </s> SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The top federal prosecutor in Brazil, Rodrigo Janot, filed corruption charges against President Michel Temer with the country’s Supreme Court (STF) on Monday. This is the first time in history a sitting President has been charged with a crime in Brazil.

The charges are based on investigations linked to information given to officials by businessman Joesley Batista in his plea bargaining agreement. Also charged was President Temer’s close ally, Rodrigo Santos da Rocha Loures, who supposedly accepted R$500,000 in bribes from Batista in the name of President Temer.

“Between March and April 2017, with free and conscious will, the President of the Republic Michel Miguel Temer Lulia, taking advantage of his position as head of the Executive Power and national political leadership, received for himself, through Rodrigo Santos da Rocha Loures, an undue advantage of R$500,000 offered by Joesley Batista, president of the company J & F Investimentos SA, whose payment was made by the executive of J & F Ricardo Saud,” says the charges presented by Janot.

The charges will now be sent to the Chamber of Deputies to be analyzed by the Lower House. If accusations are accepted by lawmakers, the process will return to the Supreme Court and President Temer will be suspended from office for up to 180 days, while the Court judges the case.

On Monday morning, before the charges were filed, President Temer gave a statement where he focused on reforms, stating that his administration’s proposed agenda is the most ambitious” of recent times. “There is no plan B. We have to move on, so nothing will destroy us, neither me nor my ministers,” he said.

Hours after the charges were filed, Brazil’s Federal Police sent the Supreme Court a final report on its investigations into the JBS allegations. In the document, the federal police say that President Michel Temer and former minister Geddel Vieira Lima tried to hinder investigations. </s> BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil’s top prosecutor on Friday charged six lawmakers from President Michel Temer’s Brazilian Democracy Movement Party (PMDB) with forming a criminal organization, the latest in a barrage of charges in the country’s sprawling corruption scandal.

FILE PHOTO - Brazil's President Michel Temer attends the 'Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries' on the sideline of the 2017 BRICS Summit in Xiamen, Fujian province, China, 05 September 2017.REUTERS/Wu Hong/Pool

Those accused by prosecutor Rodrigo Janot in a filing with the Supreme Court include former senator and president Jose Sarney, the government’s leader in the Senate Romero Juca and four other current senators.

A corruption scandal involving cartels of companies bribing officials for public contracts has enveloped most of Brazil’s political elite with Janot expected to issue another charge against Temer in coming weeks.

Temer defeated a first corruption charge from Janot, when the lower house of Congress voted not to allow it to proceed to trial.

Separately on Friday, the Supreme Court said it would consider next week requests from Temer that would block Janot from issuing further charges.

In the charges against the senators, Janot alleges the group unduly received 864 million reais ($279.84 million) and generated related losses of 5.5 billion reais for state-controlled oil firm Petrobras and 113 million reais for its subsidiary Transpetro.

Transpetro’s former president, Sergio Machado, was also charged.

The PMDB said in a statement that the prosecutor lacked evidence and that it trusted the Supreme Court would set the charges aside.

Juca said in a statement he believes the Supreme Court will seriously analyze the charges and he hopes for a speedy investigation.

A representative for Machado said he continues to collaborate with authorities, providing evidence of crimes involving politicians and Transpetro suppliers that resulted in several cases being filed.

Janot’s latest charges echo those against former presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff and six other members of the Workers Party for criminal organization earlier this week. Lula and Rousseff deny the charges.

($1 = 3.0875 reais) </s> BRASILIA: Brazil's top prosecutor on Friday charged six lawmakers from President Michel Temer's Brazilian Democracy Movement Party (PMDB) with forming a criminal organization, the latest in a barrage of charges in Brazil's sprawling corruption scandal.

Those accused by Rodrigo Janot in a filing with the Supreme Court include former senator and president Jose Sarney, the government's leader in the senate Romero Juca and four other current senators.

A corruption scandal involving cartels of companies bribing officials for public contracts has enveloped most of Brazil's political elite with Janot expected to issue another charge against Temer in coming weeks.

Temer defeated a first corruption charge from Janot, when the lower house of Congress voted not to allow it to proceed to trial.

Separately on Friday, the Supreme Court said it would consider next week requests from Temer that would block Janot from issuing further charges.

In the charges against the senators, Janot alleges the group unduly received 864 million reais (US$279.84 million) and generated related losses of 5.5 billion reais for state-controlled oil firm Petrobras and 113 million reais for its subsidiary Transpetro.

Transpetro's former president, Sergio Machado, was also charged.

The PMDB said in a statement that the prosecutor lacked evidence and that it trusted the Supreme Court would set the charges aside.

Juca said in a statement he believes the Supreme Court will seriously analyze the charges and he hopes for a speedy investigation.

Janot's latest charges echo those against former presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff and six other members of the Workers Party for criminal organization earlier this week. Lula and Rousseff deny the charges. </s> Brazil is bracing for a fresh bout of political turmoil after the president, Michel Temer, became the country’s first sitting head of state to be formally charged with a crime.

Less than a year after taking power, the deeply unpopular leader was formally accused of corruption by the attorney general Rodrigo Janot on Monday night and could now face a lower house vote on whether he should be tried by the supreme court for taking bribes.

In a damning indictment to the supreme court, Janot alleged Temer took millions of dollars in bribes from meat-packing giant JBS. The attorney general said the president had “fooled Brazilian citizens” and compromised the image of the country.

Temer said on Tuesday that he was the victim of a political defamation campaign. “I have been denounced for passive corruption without having received anything of value. Where is the concrete proof that I received something of value?” he said in a statement made before journalists in the Planalto Palace.

As he has done repeatedly, the president turned on his accusers, insisting Janot and his supporters were damaging the national interest. “They want to paralyze the country, they want to paralyze the government,” he said. “I will not run away from the battles, nor the war that lies before us.”

Operation Car Wash: The biggest corruption scandal ever? Read more

The ruling coalition currently has sufficient votes to defend the president in Congress, where a two-thirds majority would have to approve a trial. But the looming battle will further undermine the credibility of Temer, whose approval ratings have slumped to 7%.

His predecessor Dilma Rousseff – who was ousted in an impeachment plot in May 2016 – was quick to note that her former running mate was now accused of greater crimes than those for which she was removed from office last year.

“The result of the 2016 coup: leaving the country in the hands of the only president indicted for corruption,” she tweeted.

Janot launched an investigation last month into Temer for bribery, obstruction of justice and activity in a criminal organization.

These allegations followed the release of a secret recording of a late-night conversation earlier this year between Temer and the JBS executive Joesley Batista, in which the president appeared to endorse hush money payoffs to former house speaker Eduardo Cunha, a member of Temer’s party who is serving a 15-year sentence for corruption. Police have since confirmed the authenticity of the recording and said there is sufficient evidence to indict the president.

“The circumstances of this meeting [with Batista] – at night and without any register in the official schedule of the president of the Republic – reveal the intent not to leave traces of the criminal actions already taken,” Janot claimed.

Temer has resisted pressure to stand down and tried to demonstrate leadership last week by making an official visit to Norway and Russia. But his attempt to shift the focus backfired when Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, publicly lectured him on the need for Brazil to deal with its corruption woes.

Norway also halved its contribution to an Amazon rainforest fund due to the Brazilian government’s failure to address accelerating deforestation.

Analysts say Temer’s position is weakening as major news outlets turn against him and some allies – such as former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso – call on him to resign.

“Temer has never been so fragile,” said Lúcio Flávio Rodrigues de Almeida, a politics professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. “His support levels are at a low and continue to fall. There is also a strike under way. This make make him suffer pressure even from his allies. He is on a tightrope.”

However, the president still has the backing of the leader of the lower house, Rodrigo Maia, who could block the judicial process. The main business group, the National Confederation of Industries, also continues to endorse him in the hope that he will push through pension and labour reforms which will help companies.

Temer – a constitutional scholar – has changed justice minister twice this year in an attempt to strengthen his hand when dealing with judges, prosecutors and police, but time could wear him and his congressional majority down, particularly if Janot files other accusations.

“This crisis will not be solved today or even this week. There is a big change of this dragging out for a long time and perhaps only coming to a conclusion towards the end of the year,” said Rogério Arantes, a political scientist at the University of São Paulo. “Temer has the capacity to resist, due to his base in Congress, which needs to authorise the accusations against the president. This fact might help him in the next days and weeks, but in the next months, it’s impossible to say.”

His fate is likely to depend on whether ruling party legislators consider him a liability ahead of next year’s presidential election or whether they feel he can push through unpopular reforms.

“The proximity to the voters at this point could be an important factor in determining whether his allies will continue their support,” said Mara Telles, a professor at Federal University of Minas Gerais.

Additional reporting by Shanna Hanbury </s> Brazil's top prosecutor is accusing President Michel Temer of corruption and obstruction of justice, according to an investigation released Friday by the supreme court, dramatically escalating pressure to force the embattled leader from office.

At the same time, other released documents said the owner of a major meatpacker has told prosecutors that he transferred $150 million to offshore accounts for the campaigns of Temer's two predecessors in the presidency.

Attorney General Rodrigo Janot's charges against Temer threaten to drive him from the presidency and represent an extraordinary development in a corruption probe that is upending politics and just about everything else in Latin America's largest nation.

For Temer, a 76-year-old career politician who was not elected, the fallout could cost him his job. Temer, then vice president, took power a year ago after President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and later removed from office for illegally managing the federal budget.

By Friday afternoon, O Globo, the flagship paper of Brazil's largest media company, was calling for Temer's resignation, delivering a significant blow to Temer's prospects for survival. The media group had supported Temer's proposed economic overhaul, and more generally wields enormous influence because of its popular soap operas and media dominance.

The attorney general's formal presentation of evidence is the latest revelation related to a secretly recorded audio that purportedly captured Temer endorsing the paying of hush money to an ex-lawmaker now serving a 15-year prison sentence for corruption. The audio was first reported by O Globo on Wednesday night and has been rocking the country ever since.

In a plea bargain that was part of the documents released Friday by the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the same man who reportedly recorded the president also says he paid $1.5 million in bribes to Temer.

Janot says Temer and Sen. Aecio Neves have tried to derail the three-year-old "Car Wash" investigation into a huge kickback scheme at the state-run oil company Petrobras via legislative means and by influencing police investigators.

"In this way, there is evidence of possibly committing the crime of obstructing justice," Janot wrote.

Because the case involves a sitting president, the process is different than in any other kind of criminal case. With a formal investigation now opened, Janot's next step will be to decide whether his case is strong enough to send it for consideration by the lower Chamber of Deputies in Congress.

If at least two-thirds of the members of the lower house voted in favor, the case would be sent back to the top court, which would then decide whether to put Temer on trial. If the court decided to try Temer, he would be suspended from office for up to 180 days. A conviction would permanently remove him from office.

At least eight pieces of proposed legislation to impeach Temer have been submitted in Congress, and a stream of people from many walks of life has been calling for him to step down.

On Friday, former Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa added his voice.

"There is not another way out: Brazilians must organize, go to the streets and demand with strength the immediate resignation of Michel Temer," Barbosa Tweeted.

Temer's administration began questioning both the legality and content of the recording first reported by O Globo.

"President Michel Temer does not believe in the veracity of the declarations" in the recording, according to a statement from his office.

The statement also noted that the person who made the recording, JBS meat-packing company executive Joesley Batista, is under investigation himself and thus was "taking advantage" of the situation. The recording was turned over to prosecutors as part of a Batista plea bargain.

In the documents released Friday, Batista also said his company paid Temer about $1.5 million from 2010 to 2017. Some of those funds were disguised as legal campaign donations and others were channeled to Temer's public image consultant Elsinho Mouco, Batista said.

Attempts to locate Mouco for comment were not successful. The presidency also didn't immediately respond to queries seeking comment about the latest revelations.

In Batista's plea bargain, he also told authorities that he transferred $150 million to offshore bank accounts for campaigns of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his successor in the presidency, Dilma Rousseff.

Batista said former finance minister Guido Mantega was the middle man in the operation. He also said both former presidents were aware of the transfers, but did not say where the accounts were based. Batista also didn't say for which campaigns the money was transferred.

Rousseff denied the accusations in a statement and said she never had offshore bank accounts. Silva's spokesman said Batista's accusations are hearsay that was never investigated.

For Silva, president between 2003 and 2010, the accusations add to a long list of corruption cases against him, which may ultimately keep him from running for the presidency in 2018.

The sprawling "Car Wash" probe has already put dozens of Brazil's top businessmen and politicians in prison. Many more are being investigated.

After the O Globo report on Temer, Brazil's highest court opened an investigation into the accusation late Thursday and lifted the seal on the nearly 39-minute recording, which is scratchy and often inaudible.

In it, two men can be heard talking about former Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, now serving a 15-year prison sentence for corruption and money laundering. Globo's report identified the men as Temer and Batista.

One man, apparently Temer, complains that Cunha could potentially embarrass him.

"Within my limits, I did the most I could there. I settled everything," responds the other man, apparently Batista. "He came and collected, etc., etc., etc. I am good with Eduardo, OK?"

The first man then says: "You have to keep that up, see?" To which the second man responds: "Every month."

In a national address Thursday, Temer emphatically denied that he had authorized any bribes and defiantly vowed to continue in office.

His short speech did little to calm nerves during a volatile day that saw a 10 percent drop in Brazil's stock market and an 8 percent drop in the real against the U.S. dollar. By late Friday, the real had risen 3 percent and stocks were up nearly 2 percent in the Ibovespa exchange. </s> A Brazilian Supreme Court justice sent a corruption charge against President Michel Temer to Congress on Wednesday, advancing the process under which the center-right leader could be removed from office to face trial for graft.

The justice, Edson Fachin, rejected an argument made by Brazil’s top federal prosecutor that the Supreme Court should hear preliminary arguments on the charge and its merits for 15 days, before deciding whether to send it to the lower house of Congress.

Under Brazilian law, it is now up to the House of Deputies to decide whether to allow the Supreme Court to try Temer, who replaced impeached leftist President Dilma Rousseff last year. Two-thirds of the lower house must vote against Temer for his trial to occur.

The president was charged this week with arranging to receive 38 million reais ($11.55-million) in bribes from executives at JBS SA, the world’s largest meat processor.

Temer branded the charge a “fiction” in a nationally televised address on Tuesday, even as he acknowledged that it could hurt the economy and hamper his government’s plans for far-reaching reforms to help lift Latin America’s biggest country out of a historic recession.

The Brazilian leader has repeatedly said he is innocent of any wrongdoing and has rejected calls from the opposition to resign.. He is caught up in a three-year anti-graft push by investigators that has revealed stunning levels of corruption in Latin America’s largest country.

The schemes involve businesses paying billions of dollars in bribes to politicians and executives at state-run companies in return for winning contracts and various political favors.

Temer, one-third of his cabinet, four past presidents and dozens of lawmakers are either on trial, facing charges or under investigation for corruption. Over 90 people have been found guilty so far.

More corruption charges are expected to be made against Temer by Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot in the coming weeks. Each of those charges will require a vote by the full lower house on whether or not the president should face trial.

A vote on the first charge against Temer is expected to take place in three to four weeks.

If less than two-thirds of the house were to vote against the charge, it would be shelved. If two-thirds approved it, it would then go back to the Supreme Court, to decide whether it will take up the case.

Temer would immediately be suspended from office for 180 days if the court accepts the case, during which time House Speaker Rodrigo Maia would take the presidency.

Were Temer to be found guilty, Congress would appoint a caretaker president to serve out his term, which ends on Jan. 1, 2019. </s> In a fresh blow to the political stability in Brazil, which is going through its worst financial crisis, President Michel Temer has been charged over an alleged multi-million bribery scandal by the country's chief prosecutor.

Temer was elected to the office about a year ago to replace former president Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached after being indicted in the country's biggest graft scam centring around the Petrobras oil company.

On Monday (26 June), top federal prosecutor Rodrigo Janot charged the president for receiving a total of 38m Brazilian reais (£9m, $11.5m) as bribe from meatpacking company JBS SA. He allegedly took the bribes for resolving tax matters, freeing up loans from state-run banks and other matters.

Janot, while submitting the documents to the Supreme Court, accused Temer of fooling the citizens by accepting the bribes.

Temer's office and his attorney, Antonio Mariz, reportedly declined to comment on the charges. The president, however, has maintained that he is innocent, Reuters reported.

Brazil's federal police released a separate document on Monday containing a conversation between Temer and Joesley Batista, one of the brothers who control JBS. The audio recording from March reportedly showed the president discussing bribing a potential witness.

In another part of the recording, Temer is heard telling Batista that it was mainly because of his influence that he appointed Henrique Meirelles as finance minister in his cabinet.

Apart from Temer, one-third of his cabinet and four former presidents in the country have already been indicted or charged in different graft cases. Lawmakers from other parties are also accused of involvement, with over 90 high-profile people already convicted in the past few years.

Temer's popularity in the country has been on the decline since graft allegations began surfacing against him soon after he took over the president's office in August 2016.

Meanwhile, in accordance with Brazilian law, the lower house of Congress will now vote on whether to allow the Supreme Court to try Temer in the graft case.

His supporters from the coalition government are confident they have the two-third majority required in the parliament to block a trial. However, if voting is conducted several times as the president is expected to soon face charges of racketeering and obstruction of justice that require separate voting, support may wane out, they warned. </s> (CNN) Brazil once again has a president embroiled in scandal.

Brazilian prosecutors have filed criminal charges of "passive corruption" against President Michel Temer, state-run news agency Agencia Brasil reported Monday.

The charges, which Brazilian Attorney General Rodrigo Janot filed with the federal Supreme Court, came after a secret recording surfaced of a discussion between Temer and Joesley Batista, the president of JBS, a food processing company. In the recordings, Batista can be heard talking about paying bribes.

Temer said the recording was doctored.

The complaint against the President says that Batista sent a $152,000 payment to Temer, which was received in a briefcase by former federal lawmaker Rodrigo Rocha Loures, who also was charged in the case. The passive corruption charge means that the President was to have received the payment through an intermediary.

"I know what I did," Temer said following the release of the tapes. "And I know my actions were right."

So far, his presidency has been unpopular, with his approval rating in the single digits. The prospect of a second Brazilian president being forced out of office in less than a year has unsettled markets and investors.

Brazil faces one of the worst and longest recessions in recent history.

Two-thirds of the lower house of the National Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, would need to vote in favor of Temer facing trial. If 342 legislators accept the charge, it will head to the Supreme Court for trial. If the case proceeds that way, the President would be removed from office for 180 days, according to Agencia Brasil.
Brazilian President Michel Temer is charged with corruption by Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot. The case will now go to the Supreme Federal Court.