Janot's central mistake: it only applies if it involves Petrobras.

247 - Quick answer: why is Petrobras, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, being investigated by the Federal Court of Paraná? 

In theory, all facts related to the company should be referred to the courts of Rio de Janeiro, since the criterion of jurisdictional competence dictates that crimes should be investigated in the locations where they allegedly occur.

However, Lava Jato brought the entire investigation to Paraná for a prosaic reason. Officially, it began as an investigation into the money launderer Alberto Youssef, who is from Paraná. Because Youssef maintained contacts with Paulo Roberto Costa, who was a director at Petrobras, Judge Sergio Moro managed to bring the state-owned company under his purview, even though he was questioned by several lawyers.

This is how the perception arose that Youssef was an operator for Petrobras, giving sectors of the press the opportunity to coin the term 'petrolão' (corruption scandal involving Petrobras).

The truth is that Youssef was never an operator for Petrobras. He was, in fact, a money launderer and operator for former congressman José Janene (PP-PR), who died leaving a fortune of over US$100 million abroad. Janene, in turn, operated in several schemes. Not only federal, but also state-level. One of them, the Furnas scheme, during the FHC government.

Why only Petrobras?

Within the Lava Jato investigation itself, one of the schemes uncovered involved Cemig, the crown jewel of Minas Gerais. During the investigations, Judge Moro discovered a bribe of R$ 4,6 million paid by a businessman who managed to sell a small hydroelectric plant to Light, a subsidiary of Cemig. The judge, however, decided not to investigate the case – at least, not yet.

Here's what Sergio Moro wrote about it:

Investminas Participações S/A confirmed, in a petition dated October 21, 2014 (event 18), a payment of R$ 4.600.000,00 (R$ 4.317.100,00 net) to MO Consultoria. It alleged that it remunerated an account indicated by Alberto Youssef as a result of the latter's intermediation and specialized services in the sale of its shares in Guanhães Energia S/A to Light Energia S/A, with the intervention of CEMIG Geração e Transmissão S/A. It attached as evidence the relevant contracts and invoices, all suspected of having been fraudulently produced. It alleged that Alberto Youssef was 'a businessman who, at the time, possessed knowledge of the electricity sector and recognized expertise in the area of ​​commercial consulting'. Apparently, this is a transaction that, although suspicious, would not be related to the irregularities at Petrobras.

In writing this paragraph, Judge Moro mistakenly treated Lava Jato as an investigation into Petrobras – albeit inadvertently. Officially, the Operation deals with a money laundering scheme whose central figure is the money launderer Youssef. And that is the only thing that guarantees his continued stay in Paraná. If Moro can investigate crimes committed at Petrobras, why not at Cemig?

After all, if Youssef stumbled upon a story related to Petrobras, giving rise to the 'petrolão' scandal, it would also be necessary to investigate other money laundering cases involving the money launderer, such as, for example, the 'Cemigão' scandal.

Cemigão, Furnão

Having said all that, this Friday, when presenting his list of individuals to be investigated as a result of Lava Jato, the Attorney General of the Republic made the same mistake as Judge Sergio Moro. He treated the case as an investigation related to Petrobras – and not to Youssef's activities.

Janot decided to shelve the case involving Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG), cited by Youssef as a beneficiary of monthly bribes paid at Furnas, because it was not related to Petrobras – apparently embracing the argument that Youssef can only denounce alleged corruption schemes involving a federal public administration company based in Rio de Janeiro.

"All the elements in the investigation known as Lava Jato point to the existence of a criminal scheme set up within PETROBRAS, especially in the Supply Directorate, the Services Directorate, and the International Directorate, which involved the significant participation of groups of politicians," writes Janot. "The reference made to Senator AÉCIO NEVES relates to alleged facts within the scope of the administration of FURNAS. Thus, to the best of our knowledge, these are completely different and unrelated facts."

The fact that these are unrelated events does not mean, however, that they are lawful. Moreover, if the investigation were focused solely on Petrobras, or the so-called 'petrolão' scandal, Janot should, evidently, have ordered the case of former governor and senator Antonio Anastasia (PSDB-MG) to be shelved. This is because, even if he did receive R$ 1 million, as alleged by former police officer Jayme Alves, Youssef's bagman, the funds would not have originated from Petrobras – but from some other scheme.

Someone needs to tell Janot, urgently, that Lava Jato is not about Petrobras, but about a money launderer from Paraná. To confine its scope to Petrobras is tantamount to defrauding justice.