Ten years ago, in March 2014, prosecutors in the Brazilian city of Curitiba transformed a money laundering investigation into a historic anti-corruption probe known as Operação Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash). The probe uncovered evidence of corruption involving some of Brazil’s largest companies and most powerful politicians.
The revelations had dramatic political consequences. They led to massive street protests, tipped the Brazilian economy into a full-fledged depression, and provided the background for the impeachment of the country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, in 2016.
Lava Jato also resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of Rousseff’s predecessor (and Brazil’s current president), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in 2017. Lula, who spent 580 days in jail, was undoubtedly the most famous of all the Lava Jato defendants.
