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Brazilian interim president denies corruption allegations as another minister resigns

Xinhua, June 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

Brazilian interim President Michel Temer on Thursday flatly denied his involvement in a corruption case that forced a third minister to step down.

At a press conference, Temer mounted a spirited defense against allegations by Sergio Machado, former president of Transpetro, a subsidiary of state-owned oil company Petrobras, who admitted to channeling money to Temer to fund a political campaign.

The interim president dismissed the accusations as being "irresponsible, baseless, lying and criminal," saying he would not "let these accusations pass."

Machado stated that Temer had taken money from the Petrobras corruption ring to finance Gabriel Chalta, a candidate of Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) in Sao Paulo's mayoral election in 2012, according to a statement published by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Machado was arrested for links with the Petrobras corruption case. His confession forced Tourism Minister Henrique Alves to step down on Thursday.

According to Machado, Alves took bribes worth 1.55 million reais (447,000 U.S. dollars) between 2008 and 2014 as campaign donations. Alves has denied the accusation, saying his campaign donations were all legal.

Alves, one of the most experienced leaders of PMDB, was the third minister to resign from Temer's Cabinet following Planning Minister Romero Juca and Transparency Minister Fabiano Silveira.

Seeking to shift attention to the agenda of his new government, Temer said: "Nothing will affect our desire and our duty to act."

After taking over from suspended President Dilma Rousseff on May 12, Temer's new Cabinet has been pummeled by a spate of scandals and missteps that led to his public satisfaction to plunge.

Earlier this month, Temer said any member of his cabinet named in a corruption investigation would have to step down.

Arrested in April, Machado has turned into a state witness apparently with the hope of reducing his prison terms. So far, he has named at least 18 politicians as being involved in the Petrobras corruption ring. Endi