Corruption cases, investigations, public oversight, misuse of funds and institutional accountability.
On December 17, 2012, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court concluded the principal trial phase of Criminal Action 470, widely known as the Mensalão case. The judgment initially recorded convictions and acquittals across a group spanning political, party, advertising and banking figures, while later appeals changed some counts.
On December 17, 2012, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ended its plenary trial in AP 470. The initial ruling produced convictions and acquittals, while later appeals revised specific counts.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court initially convicted 25 defendants and acquitted 12 in the Mensalão case in 2012. Later appeals reversed some counts, while other convictions became final.
Brazil enacted Law No. 12,846 on August 1, 2013, creating an administrative and civil liability framework for companies involved in harmful acts against Brazilian or foreign public administration. As of a CGU update in July 2026, 37 leniency agreements had been concluded.
Brazil’s Anti-Corruption Law established objective liability for legal entities and introduced fines, publication penalties and leniency agreements. Though enacted on August 1, 2013, it came into force in February 2014.
Operation Car Wash began in 2014 as a financial-crimes inquiry and grew into Brazil’s most consequential corruption investigation. Its legacy includes findings about Petrobras contracting and a Supreme Court sequence that voided convictions against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva without deciding the underlying allegations.
Operation Lava Jato began on March 17, 2014, as a money-laundering inquiry and expanded into cases involving Petrobras contracts, construction companies and political figures. It produced arrests, charges, agreements, convictions and reported recoveries, but later faced consequential judicial reversals in cases involving Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Brazil’s Lava Jato investigation began on March 17, 2014. Its legacy now includes cooperation agreements and convictions alongside case-specific annulments and terminated proceedings, with six new Petrobras-related convictions still open to appeal.
Operation Car Wash began as a money-laundering inquiry and grew into a far-reaching investigation of alleged corruption, cartel conduct and public contracting. More than a decade later, court decisions on jurisdiction and evidence continue to define its legal legacy.
Brazil’s Federal Police launched the first overt phase of Operation Lava Jato on March 17, 2014. Initially focused on suspected money laundering and illegal foreign-exchange activity, the inquiry later expanded into allegations involving Petrobras, major contractors and political figures. Its legacy remains significant, but legal outcomes varied case by case.
Operation Car Wash entered its first overt phase on March 17, 2014. Petrobras later recognized R$6.194 billion in improperly capitalized overpayments, while U.S. authorities found that the company and investors had been harmed by the scheme and that its disclosures misled markets.
Operation Lava Jato, known internationally as Car Wash, became one of Brazil’s most consequential anti-corruption investigations. Its record includes major corporate settlements and compliance commitments, but also later Supreme Court rulings that annulled specific proceedings and excluded a category of Odebrecht-derived evidence.
Brazil’s federal audit court estimated potential losses of more than R$303.9 million in a 2017 finding on a BNDESPar-backed JBS acquisition. But the ensuing administrative case ended in 2024 with a finding that the internationalization support was legitimate, no gross error and no condemnation.
Vale’s dam collapse in Brumadinho killed 272 people under Minas Gerais’s official count and released about 12 million cubic metres of tailings. A 2021 reparation agreement remains under implementation, while related criminal proceedings have yet to reach a final judgment.
The 2019 collapse of Vale’s B-I tailings dam in Brumadinho killed 272 officially recognized victims and triggered a multibillion-real reparation agreement, continuing legal cases and a global tailings-management standard.
The 2019 collapse of Vale’s B-I tailings dam in Brumadinho killed 272 people by Minas Gerais’ current count. Regulatory findings identified warning signs that were not reported to authorities, while criminal proceedings remain in the evidentiary phase.
The 2019 collapse of Vale’s B1 tailings dam in Brumadinho killed 270 people under the count used in criminal proceedings. As hearings run through May 2027, the case remains a test of corporate accountability, regulation and mining safety in Brazil.
Brazil’s securities regulator has turned its central Americanas accounting inquiry into a formal administrative sanctioning proceeding, while separate 2026 investigations examine banks and the retailer’s governance bodies. The cases remain unresolved and no final liability has been established.
Brazil’s Federal Police searched premises in Rio de Janeiro on January 23, 2026, in an investigation into roughly R$970 million invested by the state pension authority Rioprevidência in Banco Master financial notes. No charges or findings of guilt have been announced.
Brazil’s Federal Police and Comptroller-General have launched Operation Legado, an investigation into suspected fraud in municipal procurement, particularly health-related contracts. Court-approved searches were carried out across five states and the Federal District.
Brazilian authorities executed 39 search-and-seizure warrants across six states in an investigation into 172 temporary-disability benefits suspected of causing about R$6.5 million in public losses.
Brazilian tax and state prosecutors have launched Operation Crédito Oculto, alleging that layered financial structures helped conceal corporate control and support a fuel-distributor acquisition. The case remains under investigation.
Brazilian tax and prosecutors’ authorities launched Operation Perfume de Mulher on September 22, 2026, investigating suspected illegal importation of foreign perfumes, foreign-exchange evasion and money laundering.
Brazilian authorities have carried out searches in a new phase of an investigation into alleged financial structures used to conceal control and funding connected to a fuel distributor and a sugar-and-ethanol producer.
Brazil’s Federal Police say they seized 44 firearms, cash and checks while investigating alleged false information used to obtain or retain civilian firearms registrations in Bahia. The case remains at the investigation stage.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court tried 38 defendants in AP 470, the Mensalão case, between August and December 2012. The initial outcome included 25 convictions, 12 acquittals and one case sent to a lower court; later appeals changed outcomes on specific charges without necessarily overturning other convictions.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Federal Police seized about R$1.85 million in Amapá while investigating allegations that welfare benefits and food baskets were tied to political support. Seven people are under investigation; no arrests were reported.
Brazil’s Federal Police executed a search warrant in metropolitan Goiânia two days before the 2026 general election as part of an investigation into suspected electoral corruption and possible vote-buying. Authorities announced no arrests, charges or findings of guilt.
Brazil’s Federal Police have launched Operation Lastro in Paraíba state to investigate suspected irregular campaign financing. The inquiry remains confidential, and no charges, trial or conviction have been documented.
Brazil’s Federal Police said it had opened 1,224 new inquiries into alleged electoral crimes in 2026 through October 1, alongside 94 active inquiries involving political violence against women. The figures are preliminary investigative totals, not findings of guilt.
Brazil’s Federal Police executed 19 Electoral Justice-authorized search warrants in Ceará during an investigation into suspected payments for political and electoral support. Authorities are examining financial flows exceeding R$9.8 million, while stressing that the inquiry has not established criminal liability.
Brazil’s Federal Police said that, by 11:30 a.m. on October 4, 2026, it had opened five inquiries into suspected electoral crimes and recorded R$769,278.50 in preliminary seizures. The figures were later superseded by higher totals and do not establish guilt.
Brazil’s Federal Police reported preliminary election-day enforcement figures on October 4, including 194 people taken in and R$1.83 million in assets and cash seized. The cases remain under investigation and the figures do not establish guilt.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court upheld the annulment of convictions against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in April 2021 because the Curitiba court lacked jurisdiction over the cases. The decision was not an acquittal on the underlying allegations, and it came amid a broader Lava Jato record that included independently substantiated Petrobras-related bribery and procurement misconduct.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s Federal Police executed two warrants in a confidential investigation into alleged risks to U.S. diplomatic facilities. The force says evidence collected so far shows no concrete plan or effective risk, while seized devices remain under analysis.
Brazilian federal police and Rio de Janeiro prosecutors launched Operation Magen on October 7, seeking arrests and searches in a case that has led to charges against 10 people. Authorities allege a network involving serving and former security officers sold weapons, disclosed restricted information and laundered money. No convictions have been reported.
São Paulo’s comptroller-general and Civil Police are investigating suspected irregular withdrawals of somatropin from a public specialized pharmacy in Santo André. The inquiry remains at an investigative stage, and the Health Secretariat says patient treatment was not interrupted.
On September 27, 2018, Petrobras reached coordinated U.S. resolutions over misleading disclosures and control failures linked to conduct by former executives. Later Brazilian findings estimated cartel-related losses, while the Supreme Federal Court annulled Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Curitiba convictions on jurisdictional grounds—not on the merits.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s antitrust tribunal has upheld the closure of an administrative investigation linked to the Soy Moratorium after a binding Supreme Court ruling required related proceedings to end. The decision did not determine whether the companies investigated engaged in anticompetitive conduct.
Brazil’s Federal Police have opened an investigation into whether judicial decisions may have favored real-estate and construction companies, with alleged benefits reaching a magistrate’s family. The case remains at the investigative stage, with no finding of wrongdoing.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court and Federal Police discussed how material related to the Banco Master investigations should be handled if it contains references to Supreme Court justices. The meeting established a procedural route, not evidence of wrongdoing by any justice or other person.
Brazil’s Federal Police, federal auditors and prosecutors have opened an investigation into suspected irregularities in health-unit management contracts in the northeastern municipality of Nossa Senhora do Socorro. Authorities estimate potential public losses at R$15.6 million, an amount that has not been established by a final court ruling.
Brazil’s Federal Police and federal comptroller launched an investigation into the alleged diversion and sale of 122 vehicles transferred from public agencies to a civil-society organization. Authorities estimate a potential R$4.4 million loss, while stressing the case remains at the investigative stage.
Mato Grosso Civil Police have launched Operation Legado, an investigation into suspected money laundering connected to possible wrongdoing in contracts from the previous administration of Nossa Senhora do Livramento. A court ordered asset freezes and other measures, while the allegations remain unproven.
Brazil’s Federal Police said an operation with environmental agency Ibama personnel rendered 15 dredges inoperative on the Madeira River in Rondônia, in an investigation into alleged illegal mineral extraction.
A Supreme Federal Court justice ordered the preventive detention of six people in a Rio de Janeiro investigation into alleged organized crime, money laundering and links to a fuel-station network. The detentions were maintained after custody hearings; the case remains under investigation.
Brazil’s Federal Police arrested six people in the latest phase of an investigation into suspected protection for an alleged money-laundering network operating through fuel stations in metropolitan Rio de Janeiro. Investigators said a financial-intelligence report identified more than R$7.6 billion in movements over six years, a figure that does not establish criminal proceeds or losses.
Launched on March 17, 2014, Operation Lava Jato developed into a wide-ranging set of criminal, audit and administrative proceedings linked to alleged wrongdoing involving Petrobras contracts. A 2021 Supreme Court ruling that annulled judicial acts in former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s specified Curitiba cases on jurisdictional grounds remains central to understanding its complex legal legacy.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has given telecom regulator Anatel 48 hours to provide further details after inspections found that free, data-cap-exempt access to digital electoral services was not uniform during the first-round voting period.
Brazil’s Federal Police said its final October 4 election-operation tally included 49 inquiries, 100 summary-offense reports and R$2.85 million in seized property and funds. The figures concern suspected offenses and do not establish guilt.
Brazilian Federal Police and the Federal Revenue Service carried out searches in two cities in Ceará state as part of an investigation into suspected unauthorized sales of weight-loss medicines and possible customs offenses.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court accepted charges against 40 people in 2007 in the case known as Mensalão. Its main AP 470 ruling ended in 2012, and subsequent appeals brought acquittals on particular counts while leaving other outcomes in place.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s Federal Police said it disabled 15 dredges and related equipment during a joint operation with Ibama on the Madeira River in Rondônia. The action remains at the investigation stage, with no arrests, charges or final findings of liability announced.
Brazil’s Federal Police executed 13 search-and-seizure warrants in Rio de Janeiro as part of an investigation into possible fraud in a March 2026 public examination held by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil’s Federal Police arrested Rio de Janeiro state deputy Márcio Canella and former Civil Police chief Marcus Vinicius Amim Fernandes as part of an investigation into a suspected criminal organization. The case remains at the investigative stage, with no charges, trial or convictions identified.
Brazil’s top electoral court unanimously upheld a preliminary order requiring Meta to apply equal treatment to the presidential campaigns of Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro through the October 25 runoff. The court has not concluded that Meta deliberately manipulated content distribution.
Brazil’s electoral inspector-general gave Meta and X Brasil 24 hours to provide technical explanations about AI tools, political-content distribution and moderation in an investigation into alleged preferential treatment of presidential candidates.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro traded personal attacks and competing misconduct accusations in their first televised debate ahead of Brazil’s October 25 presidential runoff.
Brazilian federal police and the federal comptroller have opened an investigation into suspected fraudulent access to fishing-benefit payments in Maranhão. Authorities executed 35 warrants, obtained asset-blocking orders of about R$400 million and estimate the alleged scheme could have caused R$10 billion in losses over five years if it had continued.
Brazil’s Federal Police executed four Supreme Federal Court-authorized search warrants in Rio de Janeiro in the ninth phase of Operation Unha e Carne. The inquiry is examining suspected laundering and asset-concealment structures; no guilt has been established.
Brazil’s Federal Police have arrested six people and searched 26 locations in an investigation into suspected irregularities involving contracts and payments at Mato Grosso’s state audit court. The inquiry is at a preliminary stage and no charges or findings of guilt have been identified.
Brazil’s antitrust authority, CADE, reported R$164.8 million in administrative fines, 41 decided cases and 255 reviewed concentration transactions during an election-period communications blackout. Separately, its investigative arm recommended liability findings in an alleged international sports-media-rights cartel case, subject to a tribunal decision.
Brazil’s consumer-protection authority has notified 39 fuel stations in 21 states as part of an ongoing inquiry into retail margins, purchase documentation and possible irregularities. Authorities have not made final findings against the businesses.
Dorival Renato Pavan began acting as governor of Mato Grosso do Sul on November 1 after the governor, vice governor and president of the state Assembly were all unavailable. The six-day handover follows the state constitution’s succession order and is not linked to misconduct proceedings.
Brazil’s Federal Police and federal comptroller have searched premises in Goiás and Mato Grosso over suspected irregularities in federally funded engineering contracts in Aragarças. No charges, arrests or convictions have been announced.
Brazilian federal authorities launched Operation Ifrit on November 4, executing arrests, searches and other court-ordered measures in an investigation into an alleged transnational network that moved drugs and firearms through Brazil and allegedly laundered more than R$500 million over about two years.