Vladimir Platonow
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília – The Braziliian watchdog agency (which is actually a court that examines government spending) (Tribunal de Contas da União) (TCU) has delivered a list of 2,900 public officials charged with malfeasance to the Federal Election Board (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral) (TSE). On the list are no less than five former governors, nine judges and 1,500 former mayors.

The president of the TCU, Adylson Motta, explains that the list does not have any immediate consequences because each case has to examined by the TSE and then there is the possibility of appealing any unfavorable sentences. As many of the people on the list are candidates in this year's October elections, Motta points out that if found guilty of malfaseance, even if elected, they can lose their mandate (be expelled from office).

Most of the crimes the 2,900 people on the list are charged with are misuse of public funds, fraudulent or manipulation of contract bidding or purchasing products at inflated prices (which leaves room for kickbacks). All the cases of malfeasance on the TCU list have been proven but no one has been found guilty of any crime, yet.

Translation: Allen Bennett