Brazil seized $655 million in assets

Latest: Corruption and Money Laundering.

Brazil justice authorises probe on Rousseff, TV says

Brazil seized $655 million in assets.

Brazil seized $655 million in assets from engineering firms Odebrecht SA and OAS SA and some of their executives to recoup losses from contracts related to the country’s largest-ever corruption scandal. Meanwhile, the impeached president and her predecessor will go under investigation for obstructing justice in the probe; they deny wrongdoing. (Reuters).

Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rouseff

SAO PAULO: A Brazilian Federal Supreme Court justice has authorised the opening of an investigation into President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor Luiz InácioLula da Silva for allegedly working to obstruct the course of a sweeping corruptionprobe, GloboNews news channel said on Tuesday.

According to GloboNews, Justice Teori Zavascki's ruling has given Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot permission to look for additional evidence that Rousseff sought to name Lula to a cabinet post to help him avoid prosecution. In June, Zavascki barred the use of some wiretaps that showed Rousseff and Lula negotiating the cabinet appointment.

The news channel, without saying how it obtained the information, also said Zavascki authorized the opening of separate investigations against Aloizio Mercadante and Jose Eduardo Cardozo, two former Rousseff ministers, for similar allegations.

Press representatives at the STF and the Prosecutor-general's office in Brasilia could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement, Rousseff's press staff denied any attempt to obstruct justice, adding that the investigation will allow "the truth to prevail." Spokespeople for Cardozo andMercadante did not immediately comment. In a widely sent email, Lula's lawyers said the former president "did not practice any act that co...

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