Brazil’s anti-graft judge Moro to become justice minister

(1 Nov 2018) The Brazilian judge at the centre of one of the largest corruption investigations in history said on Thursday he would become justice minister in the government of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, a decision which will be hailed by Brazilians eager for a crackdown on graft, but also add to deep polarization after a bruising presidential campaign. Judge Sergio Moro met Bolsonaro in the new president's home in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. Upon emerging, Moro did not speak to reporters, but soon after put out a statement confirming he had accepted the post. Moro said it would be hard to give up being a judge after 22 years, but he saw an opportunity to "implement a strong agenda of anti-corruption and anti-organized crime" in his new role. "In practice, this will mean consolidating the advancements against crime and corruption the last years and remove any risks of going backwards," he wrote. He added that ongoing cases in the sprawling "Car Wash" investigation would continue in the hands of local judges in the southern city of Curitiba, where Moro lives and many of the cases have been tried. He also said he would provide more details on his new role next week. Launched in 2014, the "Car Wash" investigation uncovered an elaborate scheme in which construction companies received bloated contracts and then kicked back billions of dollars in bribes to politicians and other government officials over more than a decade. The level of corruption was breath-taking for Brazilians long inured to graft, and led to the jailing of many of the country's biggest names. That list includes ex-President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, convicted by Moro of corruption for trading favours with construction company Grupo OAS for the promise of a beach front apartment. Da Silva began serving a 12-year sentence in April. The cases made Moro a wildly popular figure with Brazilians exhausted by numerous stories of politicians plundering government coffers. Earlier this year, he tracked highly in presidential polls even though the judge never expressed interest in running. However, many of his tactics have been highly controversial, such as the use of extended pre-trial detentions and plea bargains, both aimed at getting high-profile suspects to talk. He has also been accused of being partisan, with supporters of da Silva and the left-leaning Workers' Party claiming Moro was at the centre of a conspiracy to keep da Silva from running for president this year. In reality, Moro has convicted politicians from across the political spectrum. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Google+: https://plus.google.com/b/102011028589719587178/+APArchive​ Tumblr: https://aparchives.tumblr.com/​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c3c905c70d9d6dd01d01bc5607c8019a