First informant in Lava Jato says he is bankrupt.
The former all-powerful director of Supply at Petrobras, Paulo Roberto Costa, who helped structure the billion-dollar corruption scheme at the state-owned company, says he is out of money; the lawyers of the first informant in the Lava Jato corruption scandal, in a petition filed with the 13th Criminal Court of the Federal Justice of Curitiba, explain that the lack of money prevents him from attending the hearing on March 9th, in which he is a prosecution witness; the defense asks Sergio Moro to allow him to be heard via videoconference.
247 - Paulo Roberto Costa, the former all-powerful director of Supply at Petrobras, says he is broke and without money. The first whistleblower in the Lava Jato corruption scandal claims he is broke and doesn't even have money for plane tickets. Costa, who helped structure the billion-dollar construction cartel to divert money from the state-owned company, alleges he doesn't even have money to travel to Paraná. In a petition filed with the 13th Criminal Court of the Federal Justice of Curitiba, Paulo Roberto's lawyers explain that the lack of money prevents him from attending the hearing on March 9th, where he is a prosecution witness.
The information is from rHugo Marques' report in Veja.
"Paulo Roberto Costa involved his family in the Petrobras corruption scheme, creating accounts in the name of several companies to deposit the embezzled money. 70 million reais (23 million dollars) were recovered from two Swiss bank accounts. At the end of last year, the tax authorities sent Paulo Roberto a tax assessment notice. Paulo Roberto will have to pay 65 million reais on the illicit money he embezzled."
The lawyers say that the engineer's attendance at the hearing would generate a large expense due to the high cost of airfare, and that he cannot afford these expenses "due to the serious economic hardship the entire family is facing." In addition, the lawyers argue, the family's bank accounts have been frozen.
They say they are counting on Judge Sergio Moro's "discernment and sensitivity" to have the testimony given via video conference. Convicted in several cases in Operation Lava Jato for crimes such as corruption, money laundering, and organized crime, Paulo Roberto Costa made a plea bargain and avoided imprisonment. At the end of last year, the court authorized him to remove his electronic ankle monitor. The hearing of the first Lava Jato informant as a prosecution witness is scheduled in a criminal case where former Rio de Janeiro governor Sérgio Cabral and his wife, lawyer Adriana Ancelmo, who are imprisoned in Rio, are defendants.