Brazil senators file case against Jair Bolsonaro
Three Brazilian senators formally accused President Jair Bolsonaro of malfeasance before the Supreme Court Monday over allegations he failed to have a top ally investigated for suspicions of massive corruption in the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines.
The criminal complaint comes after a Senate commission investigating the administration's pandemic response uncovered explosive accusations last week that Bolsonaro knew about suspected corruption in Brazil's $300 million deal for Indian-made vaccine Covaxin and failed to intervene.
A criminal case against Bolsonaro before the Supreme Court could see him removed from office -- though Prosecutor General Augusto Aras, an ally, would have to bring charges.
The allegations emerged when a Singapore-based firm now suspected of being a shell company billed the Brazilian health ministry $45 million for yet-to-be-delivered doses of Covaxin.
That raised red flags for a health ministry official named Luis Ricardo Miranda. He refused to sign off on the advance payment. Miranda told the Senate inquiry his superiors at the ministry exerted "atypical, excessive" pressure on him to approve the transaction.
According to reports, the vaccine's manufacturer, Bharat Biotech, initially quoted a price of $1.34 a dose. But Brazil agreed to pay $15 a dose, more than for any other vaccine it purchased.
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