Former President of Brazil Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

The Supreme Court of Brazil has sentenced former president Fernando Afonso Collor de Mello to 8 years and 9 months in prison on charges of corruption and money laundering. This was reported by "Новые известия".

According to the prosecution, between 2010 and 2014, while serving as a senator from Alagoas state, Collor de Mello received a $4 million bribe from a subsidiary of the state oil company Petrobras in exchange for awarding contracts to one of the construction companies.

Judicial documents indicate that Collor de Mello utilized his political influence to promote candidates for the board of directors of the "Distribuidora" subsidiary and to create conditions for securing contracts, as reported by Daily Sabah.

Fernando Afonso Collor de Mello was Brazil's first president to be elected through democratic elections in 1989, following the end of military dictatorship. In the early 1990s, he faced accusations of corruption, leading to impeachment proceedings initiated by the Brazilian Congress in 1992. Just before the vote on this matter, he resigned from the presidency; however, the vote proceeded, resulting in his removal from office and an eight-year prohibition from engaging in politics.

In 2006, the former president was elected as a senator from Alagoas. The Attorney General of Brazil filed corruption charges against him in 2015, but he remained in office until February 2023.