Duda Mendonça changes defense attorney on the eve of the Mensalão trial.

247 with agencies – On the eve of the Mensalão trial at the Supreme Federal Court (STF), advertising executive Duda Mendonça changed lawyers. The marketing executive and his partner, Zilmar Fernandes, are defendants in the case for money laundering and tax evasion and had been defended since 2005 by criminal lawyer Tales Castelo Branco. The defense has been taken over by lawyer Luciano Feldens.

Brazil's Attorney General, Roberto Gurgel, maintains that there is ample evidence that they received more than R$ 10 million in Brazil and abroad from the scheme led by businessman Marcos Valério Fernandes de Souza, at the behest of the PT leadership. In testimony to the Postal Service CPI in August 2005, Duda Mendonça admitted to receiving part of Lula's presidential campaign debt in funds paid outside the country via undeclared campaign contributions.

"Duda is not part of any criminal group involved in the Mensalão scandal. He has never been accused of participating in any criminal organization," he said. "When we talk about Mensalão, we are not talking about Duda," Feldens added. Feldens declined to comment on the reasons for the replacement.

Feldens' law firm is defending banker Daniel Dantas in the Operation Satiagraha case, launched in July 2008 by the Federal Police. Last year, the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) overturned Dantas' conviction, deeming the participation of Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) employees in the police operation illegal.