Brazil's Supreme Court is dismantling one of the largest corruption crackdowns in recent history, known as Operation Car Wash. The court has begun tossing out key evidence, overturning major convictions, and suspending billions of dollars in fines tied to bribery cases, citing illegal actions by investigators, prosecutors, and judges.
Over the past year, the court's rulings have reversed numerous cases involving senior politicians and business executives who had previously pleaded guilty. This series of decisions has led to the dismissal of at least 115 convictions in Brazil and has raised questions regarding similar cases in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina.
Operation Car Wash, which began a decade ago, exposed a massive corruption scheme across at least 12 countries, revealing that corporations paid billions in bribes to government officials for public contracts. The investigation significantly altered the political landscape in Latin America, resulting in numerous convictions, including that of former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The recent reversals mark a stark departure from the initial optimism surrounding Operation Car Wash, which was seen as a groundbreaking effort to eliminate systemic corruption. Critics argue that these decisions exemplify the impunity often enjoyed by those in power.
Justice José Antonio Dias Toffoli of the Brazilian Supreme Court has been instrumental in these reversals, stating that the previous investigations were tainted by illegal collusion among officials. He emphasized that evidence obtained unlawfully cannot be used for convictions, expressing sadness over the state's wrongful actions.
However, some critics question Toffoli's impartiality, given his prior connections to Lula's political party and the investigation. In 2019, he was implicated in a corruption scheme by the CEO of Odebrecht, though he denied any wrongdoing and was never charged.
Operation Car Wash, which began in 2014, initially focused on a money-laundering operation at a car wash but soon revealed a broader network of corruption involving major Brazilian firms. The investigation led to hundreds of convictions, including Lula's 12-year prison sentence in 2017 for corruption, although he was released in 2019 when the Supreme Court ruled he had been jailed prematurely.
Since Lula's release and subsequent political comeback, the Supreme Court has accelerated the reversal of Car Wash-related cases. Recent rulings have raised doubts about the validity of convictions across Latin America, prompting legal challenges from former executives of Odebrecht and JBS.
While legal experts acknowledge the Supreme Court's duty to rectify the errors of Operation Car Wash, many lament the loss of what had been seen as a significant effort to combat corruption in the region. Some scholars have described the overall results of the operation as a "complete failure."