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Former Brazilian chief of staff formally accused of four crimes

Xinhua, September 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Jose Dirceu, Brazil's former chief of staff in the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva administration, was indicted Tuesday for four crimes associated with the corruption scheme at state-controlled oil giant Petrobras.

Dirceu has been accused of corruption, money laundering, identity theft and criminal associations. According to the Federal Police, he took bribes in order to favor companies in contracts with Petrobras.

Another 13 people, including Dirceu's daughter and brother, were indicted for participation in the scheme as well.

The court will now have to decide whether they will accept the case against Dirceu, who is being detained at the Federal Police's headquarters at Curitiba in the southern Brazilian state of Parana.

Dirceu has been accused of corruption before. He was named as one of the main operators of the Mensalao, a vote-buying scheme during Lula's presidency.

The case resulted in the former chief of staff being tried, found guilty of corruption crimes and sentenced to 11 years of prison.

Dirceu was under house arrest in Brazil's capital city Brasilia when he was arrested again in early August for his alleged participation in the Petrobras corruption scheme.

According to federal prosecutor Carlos Fernando dos Santos Lima, Dirceu participated in the Petrobras corruption scheme even during and after his trial for corruption in the Mensalao scheme. Endit