Brazilian Indicted in $11.6M Fraud

A New York grand jury indicted a prominent Brazilian politician for conspiracy and larceny in a scheme that spanned three continents and lasted more than a decade.The indictment charges that Paulo Maluf, a former governor and mayor of São Paulo and now a member of Brazil’s National Congress, worked with his son and three others to steal more than $11.6 million from the city of São Paulo.The money was used to finance political campaigns and personal purchases, including Mr. Maluf’s 1998 campaign for governor, the mayoral campaign of his handpicked successor, as well as watches, jewelry, and antique jeweled eyeglasses bought at the Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses in New York, the indictment charges.District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said that though Mr. Maluf will not be extradited, he would be arrested if he left Brazil on his own accord. Mr. Maluf is also facing trial in Brazil’s supreme court, and grand jury notes will be shared with Brazilian officials.The scheme involved a highway construction project in São Paulo. Subcontractors were required to submit inflated invoices to the contractors, who in turn generated kickbacks that went to Mr. Maluf, his son, and others close to them, the indictment says. The Maluf family allegedly received some of the money in cash, while other payments were routed through a black-market scheme into a bank account in New York that was held under another name but was secretly controlled by Mr. Maluf. Some of those funds were then transferred to an account in the Isle of Jersey that is now frozen.Altogether, $140 million passed through the New York account at Safra National Bank, but the indictment focuses only on the money whose path can be fully traced. “This case represents corruption and greed on a colossal scale,” Mr. Morgenthau said.Although the indictment does not directly address the money in the Jersey account, Mr. Morgenthau said he hopes the indictment will help return some of the money “out of Jersey and back to the citizens of São Paulo.”

Brazilian Indicted in $11.6M Fraud

Brazilian Indicted in $11.6M Fraud

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