A top aide to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when he was president was charged with corruption, money laundering and racketeering on Friday, making him one of the most senior members of Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party targeted by prosecutors in a massive kickback scandal.
Jose Dirceu, who was Lula’s chief of staff between 2003 and 2005, was arrested on Aug. 3 and prosecutors say he was a key architect of a price-fixing and political kickback scheme at state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
“Dirceu committed crimes and should be punished because we are all equal in the eyes of the law,” federal prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol said at a news conference.
He and other prosecutors in the southern city of Curitiba presented charges against a total of 17 people, including former Petrobras executives Renato Duque and Pedro Barusco and former treasurer of the Workers’ Party João Vaccari, who is currently in jail and standing trial for related charges.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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