Contractors arrested for attempting to interfere with Lava Jato, accuses Moro.

Ivan Richard - Reporter for Agência Brasil

In renewing the pre-trial detention of contractors Ricardo Ribeiro Pessoa of UTC, Eduardo Herminio Leite, Dalton dos Santos Avancini, and José Ricardo Auler of Camargo Corrêa, federal judge Sérgio Moro emphasized that the businessmen have been attempting to interfere with the investigations. According to Moro, who is responsible for the cases stemming from the Lava Jato Operation investigations, the eventual release of the businessmen would "jeopardize public order" and also pose risks to "the investigation, the application of criminal law, and the integrity of the justice system."

In a ruling issued yesterday (18), the federal judge states that the payment of bribes by the construction companies investigated by the Federal Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office was maintained after the start of the operation.

"[It is] necessary, unfortunately, to warn construction companies with the bitter medicine that this way of doing business with the public administration is no longer acceptable – it never was, in the expectation that they will abandon such criminal practices. Therefore, preventive detention is necessary to preserve public order, preventing the recurrence and continuation of the crimes, given the fact that they have lasted for years, are current, and are habitually criminal," Moro argued in the ruling.

The judge said that the attempt by the defendants and the construction companies to gain political support in order to benefit themselves in the judicial process "is already reprehensible." He added that "the aforementioned attempts to co-opt witnesses" demonstrate the need to maintain pre-trial detention to guarantee the investigation and application of the law and to preserve the integrity of the Justice system "against the interference of economic power."

He described as "intolerable" and a "total distortion of due process" the fact that "emissaries" from construction companies seek support from politicians to try to favor the imprisoned businessmen. According to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, lawyers from UTC and Camargo Corrêa met with the Minister of Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo, to discuss issues related to Lava Jato.

The minister, however, stated in a note that he only met with representatives of the Odebrecht company on February 5th at 15:30 PM. Cardozo added that it is "the duty of the Minister of Justice and any public servants to receive lawyers in the regular exercise of their profession, as determined by the Statute of the Bar Association."