RIO DE JANEIRO May 8 (Reuters) - A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered that former President Michel Temer be jailed again over an ongoing investigation into allegations of corruption.

Temer has been charged six times in connection with various corruption investigations. The court decision on Wednesday relates to an alleged corruption scheme involving a nuclear power plant operated by Eletronuclear, a subsidiary of state-run Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO May 8 (Reuters) - A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered that former President Michel Temer be jailed again over an ongoing investigation into allegations of corruption.

Temer has been charged six times in connection with various corruption investigations. The court decision on Wednesday relates to an alleged corruption scheme involving a nuclear power plant operated by Eletronuclear, a subsidiary of state-run Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA.

The former president has repeatedly denied corruption charges against him. Following the arrest order, Temer's attorney told reporters that there were no grounds for the arrest, saying it was an "injustice."

Temer, speaking to reporters in Sao Paulo, said he would turn himself in to authorities the following morning.

Temer had been held for several days in March over charges related to the alleged nuclear scheme. (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier Writing by Jake Spring Editing by Leslie Adler) </s> Evaristo Sa / AFP (file photo) Brazilian President Michel at Planalto Palace in Brasilia on August 01, 2017.

A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered that former President Michel Temer be jailed again over an ongoing investigation into allegations of corruption.

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Temer has been charged six times in connection with various corruption investigations.

The court decision on Wednesday relates to an alleged corruption scheme involving a nuclear power plant operated by Eletronuclear, a subsidiary of state-run Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA.

The former president has repeatedly denied corruption charges against him.

Following the arrest order, Temer's attorney told reporters that there were no grounds for the arrest, saying it was an "injustice."

Temer, speaking to reporters in Sao Paulo, said he would turn himself in to authorities the following morning.

Temer had been held for several days in March over charges related to the alleged nuclear scheme.

(REUTERS) </s> Brazil’s former President Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday as part of the sweeping anti-corruption investigation known as “Car Wash”, police said.

According to the Federal Police office in Rio de Janeiro, authorities carried out 10 arrest warrants, including that of Michel Temer, as well as 26 additional search warrants on Thursday.

Local media reported the former president was arrested in his house in Sao Paulo and flown to the Federal Police office in Rio.

Temer, who was president from 2016 to 2018, was hit with corruption charges during his presidency regarding management contracts of several ports in Sao Paulo. Those charges were blocked by his allies in Congress. His arrest was imminent, however, after he left office because he was no longer afforded certain legal protections.

Police said on Thursday that Temer’s arrest stems from new charges related to “crimes of corruption, criminal organisations and money laundry” in the management of a nuclear plant in Rio.

“I’m certain [Temer’s] lawyers will file a habeas corpus request so he can continue to answer to authorities in freedom,” lawyer Luiz Felipe Panelli told Al Jazeera.

Panelli said the judge could have decided to keep Temer under house arrest or other forms of custody.

“This type of arrest only happens when there’s immediate danger the suspect can flee or that he is still committing the crime,” he added.

Since launching in March 2014, the Car Wash investigation has led to the jailing of top businessmen and politicians, including ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

An arrest warrant for Moreira Franco, the former minister for mines and energy, was also issued on Thursday.

Franco’s lawyer told Al Jazeera the warrant was unnecessary because the former minister has told authorities of his whereabouts, and has said, “He is available [to help]the ongoing investigations, has provided testimonials and has defended himself in writing when necessary.”

Local media reported that Temer’s party, Brazilian Democratic Movement, said in a statement that it “regrets the Justice [system]is moving forward with an inquiry in which it has been demonstrated there are no irregularities by the former president and former minister”.

MDB did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered that former President Michel Temer be jailed again over an ongoing investigation into allegations of corruption.

Temer had been held for several days in March over charges in a corruption case involving nuclear power plant operator Eletronuclear before being released. </s> Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges, a dramatic development in a sprawling corruption probe that has roiled Brazil has showed no sign of slowing.

In a statement, the Prosecutors Office in Rio de Janeiro said that Judge Marcelo Breitas had issued an arrest order for Temer and Moreira Franco, a former minister and close ally of Temer. The statement did not detail the charges against the two and a spokeswoman at the Prosecutors Office also declined to specify the charges.

O'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 Lula da Silva.

Brazilian media report that Temer allegedly received over a million Reais from Engevix, through a close friend, ex Colonel Joao Baptista Lima Filho, who was also arrested, as was Franco Moreira, a former minister of Mines and Energy.

Allegedly Engevix was linked to the construction of Brazil's Angra 3 nuclear plant, and thus the corruption probe had the name of Radioactivity. Among charges are criminal association, active and passive corruption, money laundering and fraud in the bidding process.

Apparently Electronuclear, which runs Brazil's nuclear plants power generation contracted AF Consult Ltd (Finland) Brazilian branch and Engevix, and mounted the bribes and money siphoning scheme. </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> Former Brazilian President Michel Temer on Thursday surrendered himself to the country's federal police, marking the second time he will be jailed on allegations that he participated in a vast corruption scheme for decades.

Television images showed Temer leaving his home and going into the offices of Brazil's federal police in Sao Paulo.

Temer, who was president until late 2018, was first jailed in March but released days after. He has repeatedly denied the corruption charges against him.

His lawyers have filed an appeal against the latest arrest order.

As part of Brazil's sprawling 'Car Wash' anti-corruption probe, prosecutors have alleged that Temer received bribes that were diverted from resources meant for a Brazilian nuclear power facility and have accused him of heading a 'criminal organization.' Temer took office in 2016 following the impeachment of leftwing President Dilma Rousseff, whom he served as vice president for six years. </s> FILE PHOTO - Brazil's former President Michel Temer arrives at his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Michel Temer on Thursday surrendered himself to the country’s federal police, marking the second time he will be jailed on allegations that he participated in a vast corruption scheme for decades.

Television images showed Temer leaving his home in Sao Paulo and going into the offices of Brazil’s federal police there. On Wednesday, when the arrest warrant was issued, his attorney decried the decision and said it was an “injustice.”

His lawyers had filed an appeal before his arrest that will be heard on Tuesday.

Temer, 78, led Brazil between 2016 and the end of 2018 following the impeachment of left-wing President Dilma Rousseff, under whom he served as vice president for six years. He was first jailed in March and held in a Rio de Janeiro facility, but was released a few days later.

As part of Brazil’s sprawling ‘Car Wash’ anti-corruption probe, prosecutors allege that Temer led a “criminal organization” that took 1.8 billion reais ($455.52 million) in bribes, including kickbacks that were promised but have yet to be paid.

One of the schemes allegedly involved bribes that were from funds diverted from a nuclear power facility operated by a subsidiary of state-run Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA.

While those allegations have led to the current arrest warrant, Temer has been charged six times overall in connection with different corruption investigations.

More than 150 politicians and businessmen have been convicted in connection with the “Car Wash” investigation, including left-wing ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been in prison since last year.
Former Brazilian President Michel Temer surrenders to the federal police in response to Wednesday's arrest warrant regarding an investigation into an alleged corruption scheme involving an Eletrobras nuclear power plant. Temer's lawyer's appeal will be heard on Tuesday.