The former Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, was submitted to rigorous questioning by state investigators in relation to a fraud inquiry into the state oil company, Petrobas.
Police questioned the ex-President for three hours, as well as carried out a raid on his house early Friday. Da Silva is suspected of having benefited from kickbacks set up as part of a wildly corrupt scheme to loot money by top brass at the state oil firm.
“Dozens of executives and politicians have been arrested or are under investigation on suspicion of overcharging contracts with Petrobras and using part of the money to pay for bribes and electoral campaigns.” The BBC reports.
Aside his house, the headquarters of the Lula Institute in Sao Paolo was also raided. Other raids targeted his wife and sons.
Lula left power in 2011, after eight years in power. The Petrobas probe, dubbed Operation Car Wash, has been a long running investigation. Da Silva has always denied all allegations