April 13: A former
Odebrecht executive, jailed for bribery, says that
Michel Temer was involved in a scheme to funnel a $40 million dollar illegal
campaign contribution to his party's campaign fund. Temer denies this.[26]
April 17: A
federal judge orders
Petrobras to suspend the sale of its stake in an offshore prospect to
Norway'sStatoil. This is in response to the National Federation of Oil Workers petition, where there should have been an open bidding process for the transaction.[27]
May 17: O Globo reports, that it has obtained recordings of President
Michel Temer discussing a bribe for
Eduardo Cunha. Cunha is imprisoned on a nine-year sentence for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in return for not talking to prosecutors. Temer strongly denies the report.[37][38]
May 18: Police search the Rio de Janeiro apartment of
Aécio Neves, who narrowly lost the
2014 presidential election to
Dilma Rousseff in the second-round runoff. The Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction in criminal trials of sitting politicians, suspend Neves' senatorial status, due to his pending criminal trial. An
Odebrecht executive seeking a lighter sentence on his own bribery charges, filmed Nueves discussing a payment of two million reals, roughly $638,000.[39]
June 7:
TSE hears a motion on the admissibility of new allegations made in plea bargain testimony by construction company
Odebrecht about illegal campaign contributions to the political ticket shared by then-president
Dilma Rousseff and then-vice president
Michel Temer, who replaced her after her impeachment.[47]
June 9:
TSE votes 4–3 to reject the campaign finance case against Temer, which had also implicated Rousseff as his running mate.[48][49]
June 13:
Former governor of Rio de Janeiro,
Sergio Cabral Filho, is sentenced to 14 years and two months in prison for corruption and
money laundering in a scheme involving
kickbacks for construction contracts, such as a Rio petrochemical plant. Former Rio
interior minister Wilson Carlos Carvalho, described as Cabral's right hand, is also found guilty and sentenced to ten years. Judge
Sergio Moro said there wasn't enough evidence to convict Cabral's wife, Adriana Ancelmo.[50]
Reports surface of a Temer administration plan to lift restrictions on foreign mining company operations within a 150-mile zone of the country's border.[51]
July 4: Temer's government introduces a legislative initiative described as
labor reform.[56]
July 11: Temer signs
MP 759 into law, making significant changes to Brazilian land and
agrarian reform policies that environmentalists say threaten to worsen
deforestation and a massive asset transfer to large landowners.[57]
August 23: News emerges that
Michel Temer has abolished the protected status of a huge piece of land in the remote northern Amazon known as the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca).[71]
August 29: An injunction is issued against the revocation of Renca, stating that
Michel Temer has exceeded his authority and that the area's ecological protections can only be undertaken by the
legislative branch.[73]
September 6: Prosecutors file corruption charges in connection with
Operation Carwash against ex-presidents
Dilma Rousseff and
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. This is the first time allegations had been made against Rousseff, whereas Lula has previously been charged in connection with a beach house that prosecutors say was a bribe.[79]
Brazilian prosecutors announce a joint investigation with
Venezuela, regarding a scheme in which the Venezuelan government agency
PDVSA overpaid for agricultural equipment from Brazil's America Trading by $64 million. Investigators say that most of the payments wound up in accounts in Panama, Switzerland and the United States.[83]
October 26 – Brazil's Chamber of Deputies voted 233–251 on a motion to approve impeachment proceedings against President
Michel Temer. The motion required a two-thirds majority (342 votes) to proceed. Brazilian law requires Chamber of Deputies approval of a Supreme Court trial; criminal charges cannot be brought against a sitting president under Brazilian law.[90]
December 12: Charges are filed in the
10th Federal Court in
Brasilia against
Rodrigo Santos da Rocha Loures, after accepting a bribe as an aide to
Michel Temer. Loures was filmed leaving a
São Paulo pizzeria with a bag containing 500,000 reis which was, according to prosecutors, supposed to be a down payment on a R38 million project, to be paid over nine months. Temer was charged as well, but the
Chamber of Deputies voted against allowing the Supreme Court to try the charge. A prosecution of Temer on that charge thereupon cannot proceed until he leaves office. This filing represents a move forward in a criminal case against Rocha Lourdes.[102]
December 19:
Marcelo Odebrecht is released from prison after two and a half years. Seven years of his reduced sentence remain, but he's been greenlighted to serve the remainder of his sentence at his luxury home in
São Paulo. Originally sentenced to 9 years, Odebrecht's sentence is reduced in return for his cooperation in
Operation Car Wash.[104]
December 28:
Supreme Court chief justiceCármen Lúcia upholds the appeal of chief prosecutor
Raquel Dodge against Temer's Christmas
pardon, which he expanded to cover first offenders with convictions for non-violent crimes who served at least one fifth of their sentence. Corncerns have been expressed that the change was intendeded to benefit politicians convicted under the
Operation Car Wash investigation.[106]
April 13: A former
Odebrecht executive, jailed for bribery, says that
Michel Temer was involved in a scheme to funnel a $40 million dollar illegal
campaign contribution to his party's campaign fund. Temer denies this.[26]
April 17: A
federal judge orders
Petrobras to suspend the sale of its stake in an offshore prospect to
Norway'sStatoil. This is in response to the National Federation of Oil Workers petition, where there should have been an open bidding process for the transaction.[27]
May 17: O Globo reports, that it has obtained recordings of President
Michel Temer discussing a bribe for
Eduardo Cunha. Cunha is imprisoned on a nine-year sentence for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in return for not talking to prosecutors. Temer strongly denies the report.[37][38]
May 18: Police search the Rio de Janeiro apartment of
Aécio Neves, who narrowly lost the
2014 presidential election to
Dilma Rousseff in the second-round runoff. The Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction in criminal trials of sitting politicians, suspend Neves' senatorial status, due to his pending criminal trial. An
Odebrecht executive seeking a lighter sentence on his own bribery charges, filmed Nueves discussing a payment of two million reals, roughly $638,000.[39]
June 7:
TSE hears a motion on the admissibility of new allegations made in plea bargain testimony by construction company
Odebrecht about illegal campaign contributions to the political ticket shared by then-president
Dilma Rousseff and then-vice president
Michel Temer, who replaced her after her impeachment.[47]
June 9:
TSE votes 4–3 to reject the campaign finance case against Temer, which had also implicated Rousseff as his running mate.[48][49]
June 13:
Former governor of Rio de Janeiro,
Sergio Cabral Filho, is sentenced to 14 years and two months in prison for corruption and
money laundering in a scheme involving
kickbacks for construction contracts, such as a Rio petrochemical plant. Former Rio
interior minister Wilson Carlos Carvalho, described as Cabral's right hand, is also found guilty and sentenced to ten years. Judge
Sergio Moro said there wasn't enough evidence to convict Cabral's wife, Adriana Ancelmo.[50]
Reports surface of a Temer administration plan to lift restrictions on foreign mining company operations within a 150-mile zone of the country's border.[51]
July 4: Temer's government introduces a legislative initiative described as
labor reform.[56]
July 11: Temer signs
MP 759 into law, making significant changes to Brazilian land and
agrarian reform policies that environmentalists say threaten to worsen
deforestation and a massive asset transfer to large landowners.[57]
August 23: News emerges that
Michel Temer has abolished the protected status of a huge piece of land in the remote northern Amazon known as the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca).[71]
August 29: An injunction is issued against the revocation of Renca, stating that
Michel Temer has exceeded his authority and that the area's ecological protections can only be undertaken by the
legislative branch.[73]
September 6: Prosecutors file corruption charges in connection with
Operation Carwash against ex-presidents
Dilma Rousseff and
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. This is the first time allegations had been made against Rousseff, whereas Lula has previously been charged in connection with a beach house that prosecutors say was a bribe.[79]
Brazilian prosecutors announce a joint investigation with
Venezuela, regarding a scheme in which the Venezuelan government agency
PDVSA overpaid for agricultural equipment from Brazil's America Trading by $64 million. Investigators say that most of the payments wound up in accounts in Panama, Switzerland and the United States.[83]
October 26 – Brazil's Chamber of Deputies voted 233–251 on a motion to approve impeachment proceedings against President
Michel Temer. The motion required a two-thirds majority (342 votes) to proceed. Brazilian law requires Chamber of Deputies approval of a Supreme Court trial; criminal charges cannot be brought against a sitting president under Brazilian law.[90]
December 12: Charges are filed in the
10th Federal Court in
Brasilia against
Rodrigo Santos da Rocha Loures, after accepting a bribe as an aide to
Michel Temer. Loures was filmed leaving a
São Paulo pizzeria with a bag containing 500,000 reis which was, according to prosecutors, supposed to be a down payment on a R38 million project, to be paid over nine months. Temer was charged as well, but the
Chamber of Deputies voted against allowing the Supreme Court to try the charge. A prosecution of Temer on that charge thereupon cannot proceed until he leaves office. This filing represents a move forward in a criminal case against Rocha Lourdes.[102]
December 19:
Marcelo Odebrecht is released from prison after two and a half years. Seven years of his reduced sentence remain, but he's been greenlighted to serve the remainder of his sentence at his luxury home in
São Paulo. Originally sentenced to 9 years, Odebrecht's sentence is reduced in return for his cooperation in
Operation Car Wash.[104]
December 28:
Supreme Court chief justiceCármen Lúcia upholds the appeal of chief prosecutor
Raquel Dodge against Temer's Christmas
pardon, which he expanded to cover first offenders with convictions for non-violent crimes who served at least one fifth of their sentence. Corncerns have been expressed that the change was intendeded to benefit politicians convicted under the
Operation Car Wash investigation.[106]