Brazilian Supreme Court judge suspends millionaire fine imposed on construction company

In a new setback in the increasingly contested Lava Jato anti-corruption operation, STF Federal Supreme Court judge Díaz Toffoli suspended payment of a million-dollar fine imposed in 2017 on the then construction company Odebrecht (now Novonor). the head of the investigation, then-judge and now senator Sergio Moro. It is the second largest fine suspended by Toffoli and expands the scope of the dismantling that has plagued Lava Jato and other anti-abuse operations in recent years as the STF itself viewed Moro as biased and suspicious.

The magistrate’s decision suspended the payment of a fine originally imposed by Moro in 2017 in the amount of 716 million euros, but which, taking into account current values, would amount to an impressive 1,603 million euros, payable over 23 years. The fine was the result of an agreement reached at the time between Moro, then a respected name around the world as a supposed fierce fighter against wrongdoing in political and business circles, especially after the conviction and sent to prison of Lula da Silva, and Odebrecht, who admitted committing 49 crimes, namely corruption, and agreed to pay this astronomical fine, which was an important milestone in the operation.

However, Toffoli has now, like the decisions of other STF judges in the Lava Hato case, assessed that this agreement was signed due to an unlawful imposition on the part of Sergio Moro, who, as Toffoli says in the decision, acted in illegal collusion with prosecutors from the Public Ministry. not to punish the construction company and other suspects according to the law, but to enhance the personal prestige of him and his allies by pursuing certain goals. However, according to Toffoli, the agreement that resulted in the fine did not respect the rights of defense of the Odebrecht company, which had its then president Marcelo Odebrecht and other senior executives arrested, and which at the time could not refuse to accept the offensive imposition of the law “I live”.

A few weeks ago, Diaz Toffoli already canceled an even larger fine of 1,981 million euros imposed on J&F, the world’s largest animal protein producer, as part of another anti-corruption action, Operation Greenfield, also in this case citing irregularities. and abuse of power. Initially considered a global example of the fight against corruption, Operation Lava Jato began to unravel in late 2019, when the Federal Supreme Court found for the first time that Sergio Moro did not have jurisdiction or legal competence to lead this action and that he and the prosecutor’s office illegally took steps to fake evidence that would have led to the arrest and conviction of the suspects, quashed numerous cases and ordered the immediate release of former President (and now President again) Lula da Silva, the most famous prisoner of Lava Jato, who was imprisoned for 580 years, according to the rapporteur for STF Edson Fahim case, in an arbitrary manner.