Ex-Governor Sérgio Cabral Arrives at Bangu 8 Prison in Rio de Janeiro

By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The former governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral, was transferred on Saturday (December 17th) from Federal Police incarceration in Curitiba back to the prison of Bangu 8, in the Penitentiary Complex of Gericinó, in Rio State. He was relocated from Bangu 8 in October due to accusations of improper visitations.

Cabral was arrested on November 17th, initially accused of receiving kickbacks from state construction works totaling R$220 million.

The ex-governor is now also a defendant in part of Operação Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash). The complaint against him and six other people, including former First Lady Adriana Ancelmo, was accepted this Friday (December 16th) by Judge Sérgio Moro, of the Federal Justice in Curitiba.

In this case Cabral is accused of passive corruption and money laundering for receiving, according to the complaint, R$2.7 million in bribes diverted from a Petrobras contract with the Andrade Gutierrez company to carry out construction at the Petrochemical Complex of the Rio de Janeiro (COMPERJ).

After adding bribes and kickbacks, the contract, which initially was R$819.8 million, exceeded R$1.17 billion, said the prosecutors responsible for the complaint accepted by Moro.

According to the indictment, the indication that payments should be made to Cabral was made by former Petrobras Supply Director Paulo Roberto Costa, who has made a plea-deal with the Federal Public Ministry.

Cabral was arrested on November 17th by the Federal Police (PF), in Operation Calicute, as a result of which he also became a defendant.