Sao Paulo ex-mayor, Paulo Maluf, guilty of embezzlement

GlobalPost

One of Brazil's richest men, the former mayor of Sao Paulo, has been found guilty of stealing millions of dollars from public funds and diverting them to his offshore accounts in the tax haven of Jersey.

BBC reported a Jersey court ordered Paulo Maluf, a multimillionnaire businessman and serving congressman in the Brazilian parliament, to pay back $10.5m plus interest to the Sao Paulo authorities.

According to facts presented to the court, the 81-year-old made millions by issuing over-inflated invoices for a construction roadwork project in Sao Paulo during his time as mayor in the 1990s.

The Guardian reported Maluf and his son, Flavio, created a "slush fund" to hide the cash, which ended up in the accounts of two companies held with Deutsche Bank on the British tax haven island of Jersey.

Maluf denied the charges, and denied having any off-shore accounts.

He and his son were jailed for several weeks in 2005 for intimidating witnesses in a money laundering case against them.

The BBC said Maluf has also been indicted by a court in New York on money laundering charges.

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