RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil’s justice minister lamented on Sunday what he called the “criminal invasion” of the phones of several prosecutors involved in a sprawling anti-graft probe that has put dozens of top politicians and businessmen behind bars. Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who led the “Operation Car Wash” investigation when he was a judge, put out a statement after the online news publication The Intercept published articles that it said reveal private messages between Moro and members of the task force. In one of the stories published Sunday, The Intercept says that then-judge Moro and prosecutors involved in an investigation into former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva exchanged messages discussing the case. According to the article, Moro orientated prosecutors, overstepping his duties as a judge. Da Silva, who is widely know to Brazilians as Lula, was sentenced to 12 years and one month in prison on a corruption conviction, which was later reduced to eight years and 10 months.

Source: thestar June 10, 2019 03:33 UTC