Brazil’s ex-president Temer heading back to jail

A Brazilian high court ordered the arrest, once again, of former president Michel Temer as part of the massive corruption probe known as Lava Jato.

Temer was first arrested in mid-March in connection with contracts signed by construction company Engevix to build the nuclear power plant Angra III.

Four days after the arrest, he was released on an appeal.

Now, a high court suspended the effects of the appeal and ordered his detention. Temer told local reporters that he will turn himself in to police late Thursday, although he denied any wrongdoing. 

Engevix owner José Antunes Sobrinho said in a plea bargain deal that he paid a bribe of 1.1mn reais (US$289,473) to a political group led by Temer to obtain the Angra III contract.

The court also ordered the arrest of Moreira Franco, Temer’s former energy minister and close ally. Franco was also arrested and then released in March.

A former vice president, Temer became president in mid-2016 as a result of the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff.

Launched in 2014, the Lava Jato investigation began looking into a kickback scheme run by major construction and engineering companies to secure contracts with state-run oil firm Petrobras. Since then, the probe has spread to several other business sectors and countries in Latin America.