Sao Paulo: It was the most cinematic moment in Brazil's recent political drama. When investigators followed an anonymous tip to an apartment in northern Brazil this week, they stumbled upon a dozen suitcases and boxes stuffed with 51 million reais ($16 million) in cash - the largest seizure in the history of the country.

"We expected documents, and it was a huge surprise when we found the empty apartment and just the suitcases and boxes covered by a sheet," Daniel Madruga, who coordinated the operation, told local television station Globo.

Suitcases full of cash were found in an apartment used by former Brazilian presidential aid Geddel Vieira Lima. Credit:Screengrab/Globo

Corruption has been an endemic problem in Brazil for centuries, but a massive investigation has unexplained piles of cash popping up around the country like never before. Believed to be the largest corruption case in modern history, the probe uncovered a complex scheme in which top business executives traded bribes for lucrative government contracts. The investigation has snaked its way from a Brasilia Car Wash to the presidential palace, and prosecutors estimate the payoffs reached upwards of $5 billion.

A team of 20 police officers pulled all-nighters on Wednesday to count the stacks of bills, a process captured in a viral video that sparked widespread fury among Brazilians. The money has been returned to public coffers, police said.