Brazilian police indicts Lula for corruption, money laundering

Brazilian police on Friday indicted former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), his wife and three other people for active and passive corruption as well as money laundering.

The five are all accused of irregularities in the purchase and remodeling of an apartment on the coast of Sao Paulo and in the declaration of assets belonging to Lula, the federal police announced in a statement.

The other three people involved are Paulo Okamotto, the president of the Lula Institute, Jose Aldemario Pinheiro Filho, the former president of the OAS construction company and Paulo Gordilho, an architect.

"The couple of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva benefited of illegal benefits from OAS, of a value of 2,430,193.61 reais (745,000 U.S. dollars), in reference of apartment 164-A of the Solaris Building, as well as in the cost of storage of the couple's goods," wrote police inspector Marcio Adriano Anselmo.

This is the first formal indictment made against Lula among three ongoing investigations into his actions, including whether he benefited from the Petrobras corruption ring and his suspicious ownership of a country home in the city of Atibaia.

The apartment involved, located on the luxurious beach of Guaruja, was extensively remodeled, which was paid for by OAS. The Lula couple has admitted they paid an initial deposit for the apartment but have said they changed their minds and asked for the deposit back. As such, investigators have had trouble proving the apartment belongs to them.

The evidence presented by the police will now be analyzed by the prosecutor-general's office, which will have three months to decide whether the accused should be brought to trial. Enditem