Replies to post #7762 on Billionaire Boys Club Member Forum (BBCMF)

[mick]

Brazil Court to Probe Bank President
Thursday May 12, 6:16 pm ET
Brazil's Supreme Court to Investigate Central Bank President for Alleged Tax Evasion


BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil's Supreme Court on Thursday authorized prosecutors to investigate Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles for alleged tax evasion and illegal cash remittances abroad.
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A court spokesman said prosecutors will have 60 days to subpoena and examine documents relating to the alleged irregularities.

The investigation will probe local press reports linking Meirelles to US$1.3 billion (now euro1 billion) in overseas transactions between 1996 and 2001, when he was a top executive at BankBoston and FleetBoston Financial in the United States.

Speaking at a conference in Rio de Janeiro after the announcement, Meirelles said the Supreme Court investigation wouldn't negatively affect his work at the central bank.

"I will continue doing my work, oriented by serenity, ethics and transparency," Meirelles said according to the local Agencia Estado news agency.

Speaking after the announcement, Meirelles' lawyers said they had expected the court's decision and that they believed the investigation would prove him innocent.

"It's in our client's interest to clarify everything as quickly as possible," said Claudio Fruet, attorney at law firm Caputo, Bastos and Fruet. "President Meirelles ... wants everything cleared up."

The lawyers said they would seek a separate investigation about how information about Meirelles' tax and financial records were leaked to the press.

"The leak of confidential information is absurd, and the president of the Central Bank cannot be subject to this," said Fruet.

Following the press allegations, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva upgraded the Central Bank president to cabinet-level status, in an effort to shield Meirelles from prosecution in a lower court. Cabinet members can only be arraigned and tried by the Supreme Court.

Although the high court recently ruled that Meirelles' elevation to cabinet status was consitutional, it has allowed the investigation into his finances to proceed.

The news of the Supreme Court's decision to open the investigation came on the same day that the federal prosecutor's office filed a petition for an inquiry into loans taken by Social Security Minister Romero Juca.





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