In addition to key news about the investigation and copies of the lawsuits, the site contains information about all suspects and convicted persons, videos of depositions in the Odebrecht case and infographics, such as information about the lawyers involved in trials related to the investigation.
Operation Car Wash began in 2014, when corruption charges were brought against Brazilian energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras). The investigation began almost by accident: a Braziliandoleiro (doleiros in Brazil are "currency changers," black market dealers who launder money through small businesses like car washes and gas stations) confessed to laundering money and transferring an expensive Range Rover car bought with it to PauloRoberto Costa, a top manager of the state-owned Petrobras company. Transfer of the vehicle.
The investigation was led by a proactive team of nine Brazilian prosecutors, along with a young judge,Sergio Moro, who became national heroes for their desire to bring the perpetrators to justice despite their high status. The heart of the investigation was the small southern city ofCuritiba, far removed from the country's political turmoil. The success of the investigation, Moro said, was largely due to the American approach of negotiating leniency if they pleaded guilty and cooperated with the investigation. The prosecutors were able to find sufficient evidence to prosecute the perpetrators, and they were able to negotiate a reduced sentence if they cooperated with the investigation.
After gathering sufficient evidence, prosecutors charged Costa, who, after agreeing to cooperate with the investigation, revealed that Petrobras' top management, along with high-ranking officials in the country, had been involved in money laundering for years: taking bribes for awarding contracts to construction companies at inflated prices and transferring them abroad. As a result of the scheme, public money allocated for the execution of contracts was misappropriated by construction companies - state contractors
The investigation led to the dismissal of the company's top management, including its CEO Maria das Graças Silva Foster, one of the most powerful female managers in the world, the cancelation of projects in the oil and construction industries, and the loss of jobs for thousands of employees.
The scandal also affected the country's then-presidentDilma Rousseff, who had previously chaired Petrobras' board of directors for seven years, and although her involvement in the corruption scheme was not proven, her credibility was severely damaged, and in August 2016 Rousseff was removed from office in an impeachment trial for technical violations of budget rules. Brazil's former presidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva also came under investigation and was charged with corruption and money laundering.
In one of the most significant breakthroughs of the investigation, Odebrecht, a major international construction conglomerate, pleaded guilty to charges of bribing officials in 12 Latin American countries, resulting in the payment of more than $3.5 billion(214 billion rubles) to authorities in Brazil, the U.S. and Switzerland, a record amount in the history of prosecutions for violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
In total, three years of investigation and more than 1,100 trials have brought hundreds of officials under investigation, including a third of the cabinet of current Brazilian PresidentMichelTemer(Michel Temer), a third of the Senate, as well as dozens of members of the lower house of Congress, governors and former politicians. Temer himself is currently under investigation on charges of corruption and obstruction of justice, as well as receiving illegal funding for his 2014 election campaign.
According to its creators, the Lava JOTA online platform is designed to provide full information transparency in the investigation of the high-profile corruption scandal and to become a tool that could be used by researchers, lawyers, journalists, and ordinary citizens alike. The site was launched in April of this year, and already in its first month of operation it received more than 150,000 visitors. The most popular search queries were the names of Dilma Rousseff and Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, as well as the word "Dominican Republic" (Dominican Republic officials have also found themselves under investigation in the case of Dilma Rousseff and Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva).
Operation Car Wash, initially described as Brazil's biggest corruption scandal, later became the most high-profile international case. The corruption investigation involved many Latin American countries, including top officials such as the current and two former presidents of Peru and the president of Colombia.