Minister says ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva could rejoin government, putting him out of reach of judge probing alleged Petrobras kickback scheme

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was charged on Wednesday in a money laundering investigation led by Sao Paulo state prosecutors, intensifying scrutiny of the politician, who was questioned in a separate federal graft probe last week.

A spokesman for the state prosecutors declined to specify the charges, but state investigators have said they suspect Lula’s family owned an undeclared beachfront apartment in the city of Guaruja.

Federal investigators echoed those allegations after they detained Lula for questioning in police custody on Friday, fanning a political crisis that has rattled his successor, President Dilma Rousseff.

Lula has denied any wrongdoing and rejected the idea that he owned the luxury condo in Guaruja built by engineering group OAS, one of the conglomerates snared in a vast corruption scandal tied to state-run oil company Petrobras.

Lula’s lawyer called the charges an attempt by prosecutor Cassio Roberto Conserino to smear the former president.

“Conserino turned two visits to an apartment in Guaruja into concealed ownership,” defense attorney Cristiano Zanin Martins said in a statement calling on the supreme court to decide if state or federal prosecutors had jurisdiction.

The charges may make it more urgent for Lula to accept, if offered, a post in Rousseff’s government.



The minister in charge of legislative affairs, Ricardo Berzoini, said Lula could join the government if he wishes, a move that would give him some protection from prosecution.

Brazilian media reported on Wednesday that members of the ruling Workers party (PT) were pressuring Rousseff to offer Lula a ministerial portfolio in the cabinet that would shield him from possible detention.

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If Lula were appointed to a ministry, he could only be tried in the supreme court, placing him out of the reach of the federal judge in Curitiba pursuing the investigation into kickbacks at Petrobras.

“The ball is in his court,” Berzoini told Reuters. “The government is good with it. Which government would not want to have Pele on the field,” he said, comparing Lula to the legendary Brazilian football player.

According to two sources close to the former president, he is reluctant to join the government but pressure from the Workers party is having some effect.

“The best chance that he has is to accept a ministry and for the trial to go to the supreme court so he receives a fair hearing,” said one source close to the former president.

The snowballing scandal puts Rousseff in a tough spot as she promises independence for investigators while trying to contain the political fallout in her Workers’ party.