Bribe-taking: Governor arrested, faces jail sentence
News & Trends •
the governor of rio de janeiro luiz fernando pezao was arrested on thursday over allegations he received bribes as part of the sprawling car wash graft probe according to brazilian media1 theglobo newstelevision channel showed live footage of federal police at the residence of the governor who remains in his home in custody1 pezao is accused of taking bribes when he was vice governor under sergio cabral who is currently in prison1 the police also raided the guanabara palace headquarters of rio de janeiros government searching for documents1 the superior court of justice issued the arrest warrant based on the confession of carlos miranda a former cabral associate who cooperated in exchange for a sentence reduction1 according to mirandas testimony pezao would have received a monthly payment of 150000 reais 40000 as well as end-of-the-year bonuses of up to one million reais1 the money would have been paid by companies and intermediaries bound by contracts with the rio de janeiro government during a period from 2007 to 20141 the state of rio de janeiro is on the verge of bankruptcy and plagued by insecurity1 wilson witzel was elected in october to govern the state and is set to take office january 11