Rio de Janeiro: The Brazilian Federal Police has announced it will shut down an anti-corruption taskforce responsible for jailing dozens of politicians, drawing a rebuke from prosecutors who warned that the move could throttle investigations that have exposed systemic corruption among the country's political and business elites.

The decision comes as President Michel Temer, who is among the politicians facing criminal charges stemming from the unit's work, is scrambling to shore up support among lawmakers to avoid trial over bribery allegations.

Brazilian President Michel Temer stands in front of Australia's Finance Minister Mathias Corman at a working session of the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday. Credit:Getty Images

The Federal Police, which announced the shift on Thursday, characterised it as a bureaucratic reshuffling of personnel and resources that would increase efficiency. In a statement, it said that members of the team known as the Lava Jato, or Car Wash, taskforce would be absorbed into the organisation's main anti-corruption division to more effectively "fight against corruption and money laundering and facilitate the exchange of information".

Members of the taskforce, the country's national association of prosecutors and the federation of Federal Police officers scoffed at that rationale.