Color di Melu Fernanda (Fernando Collor de Mello)

Color di Melu Fernanda (Fernando Collor de Mello)

Biography

2023:9 years in prison for corruption

On May 31, 2023, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court sentenced former President Fernando Color de Mello to 8 years and 10 months in prison on charges of corruption and money laundering.

According to Reuters, the Brazilian prosecutor's office accused the 73-year-old statesman and politician of taking bribes worth approximately 30 million reais (about $5.93 million at the exchange rate as of June 1, 2023) from a subsidiary of the national oil and gas company Petrobras. The special group behind the large-scale investigation into bribery between Petrobras and Brazil's political elite was created in 2014 and officially disbanded in 2021.

Having considered the case file, the court found Kolor guilty of financial fraud and participation in corruption schemes. At the same time, it was established that bribes were received in the amount of 20 million reais ($3.96 million) from 2010 to 2014 as a senator. It is alleged that the money was received in exchange for concluding contracts between the construction contractor and a subsidiary of Petrobras.

The lead judge in the case, Edson Fachin, said that the facts gathered by the investigation against Color "reflect an unacceptable abuse of public authority for personal and property enrichment." It is also said that "the then senator used his political influence to promote appointments to the board of directors" of the subsidiary Petrobras Distribuidora and to "create conditions for concluding contracts."

Money laundering was carried out through dozens of accounts registered both with Color himself and with companies belonging to him. The defense of the former Brazilian president denies the accusations against him.^[1]

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