Brazil's graft scandal: 83 new probes sought

Brazil's prosecutor general sought Tuesday to open probes against scores of politicians in a dramatic widening of an already vast graft scandal shaking Latin America's biggest country.

Although the names of those being targeted remained sealed, Brazilian media quoted anonymous sources confirming expectations that the list contained a Who's Who of the political elite.

Several Brazilian news sites said at least five ministers in President Michel Temer's government were in the crosshairs, including his recently appointed new foreign minister Aloysio Nunes, as well as the presidents of both houses of Congress.

Leftist ex-president Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor and mentor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a huge figure on the Brazilian political scene, were also on the list, Brazilian media reported.

Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot sent a request to open a total of 83 corruption probes to the Supreme Court, which handles cases involving serving members of Congress or the government, his office said in a statement.

Janot also asked the court to unseal the cases so that the details can be made public, "considering the necessity to promote transparency and to safeguard the public interest."

It was not clear how quickly the Supreme Court would give its response.

- Plea bargain testimony -

The complaints against the politicians ramp up the so-called Car Wash probe, which has uncovered massive embezzlement and bribery based on state-oil company Petrobras.

The accusations in Janot's list are based on a deluge of testimony given in connection with plea bargains struck with 77 former executives of the giant Odebrecht construction firm, which was at the heart of the Petrobras scheme.

The former Odebrecht employees, including ex-CEO Marcelo Odebrecht, have confessed to systemic bribery of politicians in exchange for inflated contracts with Petrobras and favorable legislation in Congress. The money went either directly into politicians' pockets or into party campaign slush funds.

Speculation has been mounting over possible damage to Temer's center-right government. Several ministers have already had to resign due to involvement in the Car Wash scandal since Temer took power last year.

Temer himself has previously been implicated in Odebrecht testimony for allegedly asking for unregistered campaign donations to his PMDB party. He says that he did nothing illegal and there was no immediate indication that he would face a probe by Janot.