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Brazilian court freezes bank accounts allegedly belonging to top politician

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Brazilian Supreme Court on Thursday authorized the freezing of 2.4 million U.S. dollars in two Swiss bank accounts in the name of Eduardo Cunha, president of the country's Chamber of Deputies.

The seizure of these assets will result in the transferring of the money to a judicial bank account in Brazil while an investigation will be conducted to see whether the funds were obtained in an unlawful manner.

If such evidence is found, the money will be transferred to the office of the general prosecutor to be used in fighting crime.

The request to freeze the assets was made last Thursday to the Supreme Court by Brazil's general prosecutor, along with a request to carry out an investigation into Cunha, which was approved on the same day.

The Swiss bank accounts have already been blocked by the Swiss authorities, which also sent relevant documentation to the Brazilian government in September.

Cunha has come under suspicion since confessions by officials and businessmen, arrested in the sweeping Lava Jato (Car Wash) anti-corruption operation, pointed to his involvement.

Analysts say that Cunha's fall from power would likely trigger a domino effect, leading to dozens of lawmakers being subject to investigations. Endi