STF annuls Moro’s sentence against 1st convicted Lava Jato politician

The Second Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) annulled the last conviction handed down by then federal judge Sérgio Moro, against former federal deputy André Vargas.

Vargas was the first politician convicted as a result of the actions of the Lava Jato task force in Curitiba. He was imprisoned for 3 and a half years after being convicted of passive corruption and money laundering, but was released in 2018.

At the end of last year, the STF had already overturned the effects of a first action against Vargas that was also processed in the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba and has now extended the effects of the annulment to a second criminal action. The Second Panel followed the same understanding of the decision that benefited President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, by pointing out the incompetence of the court’s judgment to judge Vargas’ case.

The case’s rapporteur, minister Cristiano Zanin, voted for the extended overthrow. “This Federal Supreme Court has decided, in numerous precedents, that the jurisdiction, by connection or continence, of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba is restricted to processes whose alleged illicit acts have occurred within the restricted scope of Petrobras/SA, and not to all and any conduct investigated by the extinct task force”, explained Zanin

The vote was followed by the ministers appointed by Bolsonaro, Kassio Nunes Marques and André Mendonça, in addition to Gilmar Mendes. Edson Fachin disagreed, pointing out that the jurisdiction should lie with Curitiba because the crime of money laundering would have been committed in Paraná.

Vargas case

The relationship between André Vargas and money changer Alberto Youssef, one of the main targets of the operation and accused of leading an international money laundering scheme, came to light since the beginning of the investigations. The PF intercepted contacts between the money changer and the deputy – 270 text messages exchanged using the BlackBerry device, between September 19, 2013 and March 12, 2014.

The suspicion is that Vargas worked in favor of the network organized by the money changer, having even lobbied for the Labogen laboratory, owned by Leonardo Meirelles, another Lava Jato defendant, at the Ministry of Health. Furthermore, the parliamentarian even went on vacation with the family on a jet chartered by the money changer in 2013.

The case led Vargas to have his mandate revoked in December 2014 and also to be expelled from the PT.