Sister of Lava Jato Judge Nominated For Position in Rio State Government

By Dorah Feliciano, Contributing Reporter

BRASILIA, BRAZIL – The Chief of Staff’s office of Rio de Janeiro governor, Wilson Witzel, has nominated the sister of one of the leading judges in the Lava Jato’s (CarWash) corruption scandal to the position of advisor of the Rio State Comptroller General (CGE), reports journalist Ruben Berta on his daily blog.

According to the CGE, Marcilene Cristina Bretas Santana, sister of Lava Jato judge, Marcelo Bretas, was appointed to the position after ‘submitting her resume to participate in a selective process which analyzed about 800 resumes’.

The friendship between Governor Witzel and Judge Bretas is well known. The two shared a Brazilian Air Force airplane to attend Jair Bolsonaro’s inauguration ceremony in Brasilia on January 1st. The judge also attended Witzel’s inauguration at the beginning of the year.

Governor Witzel, a former federal judge, is a close ally of President Bolsonaro and adopts a critical position about the PT party (Workers’ Party).

More recently, during Carnival, the two watched the samba school parade together, joined by São Paulo Governor, João Doria, another President Bolsonaro ally.

Known as the ‘Sergio Moro of Rio’, Judge Bretas Bretas became known a household name after issuing arrest warrants for former Rio de Janeiro governor, Sergio Cabral and former millionaire, Eike Batista, once the richest man in Brazil.

The Lava Jato corruption scandal has implicated dozens of politicians, large construction and engineering companies, like Odebrecht, and top executives at Brazilian oil giant, Petrobras. Many of those implicated in the scandal passed through the courts of Moro and Bretas.

Current President Bolsonaro, along with Witzel and Doria, won their respective executive positions by campaigning against corruption and the traditional political system.