SAO PAULO: Prosecutors on Thursday charged former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his wife and a former finance minister with more corruption charges in the investigation of the graft at state-run oil company Petrobras.
It is now up to federal judge Sergio Moro to decide if the new charges will result in another trial for Lula, who is already accused in Moro's court in southern Brazil with separate corruption charges, with a ruling not expected until late January or early February.
Lula, a two-term president who left office in January 2011, faces another trial on graft charges in a Brasilia court, but a start date has not been set.
In bringing the new charges, prosecutors said in a statement that Lula oversaw a scheme in which Latin America's biggest construction firm, Odebrecht, paid 75 million reais ($22.18 million) in bribes to win eight Petrobras contracts.
Prosecutors said Lula orchestrated the political appointments of Petrobras executives who would carry out the kickback scheme on the Odebrecht contracts, with the money being funnelled back into the campaign coffers of Lula's Workers Party and its allies, including the now-ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement Party.
Lula's wife, Marisa, was also charged in the case with money laundering, while Lula's former finance minister Antonio Palocci was charged with corruption and money laundering. Both are already facing separate charges and trials in the Petrobras case.
Prosecutors said part of the illicit money made its way to Lula and his wife and that they benefited from surreptitiously using Odebrecht money to purchase and renovate real estate.
The so-called "Car Wash" investigation is the biggest graft probe yet carried out in Brazil.
To date, it has resulted in 200 people charged and 81 individuals being convicted - mostly executives of construction forms and former politicians. The charges filed so far involve at least 6.4 billion reais in bribes.
Marcelo Odebrecht, the former chief executive of his family's construction firm who is already serving over 19 years in prison after being found guilty on other Car Wash charges, was also hit with more corruption charges on Thursday.
But he has now turned state's witness, along with nearly 80 other executives from the firm, and their statements are expected to implicate more than 200 politicians. The former CEO is expected to remain imprisoned until the end of next year and then remain on probation for several years in exchange for his testimony.
Lula's lawyers have repeatedly said their client is innocent of all accusations. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday's charges.