RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – The architect of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s 2010 and 2014 campaigns, João Santana, landed in Brazil from the Dominican Republic yesterday and was taken in a police jet to the city of Curitiba, the epicentre of a massive corruption probe, his spokesman said.
The arrest of Santana is a threat to Rousseff, who is facing questions over whether her 2014 campaign was financed with bribe money skimmed off of state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.
Police said on Monday they had a warrant for Santana’s arrest after evidence showed engineering conglomerate Grupo Odebrecht had paid him funds siphoned from Petrobras in offshore accounts.
They said Santana also appeared to have received bribes in 2013 and 2014 from Zwi Skornicki, a money mover whom prosecutors said represented Keppel Fels, the Brazil unit of Singapore oil rig builder Keppel Corporation Ltd.
Santana said in a statement he was quitting the re-election campaign of Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina in order to defend himself from “baseless accusations.”
Known as “the maker of presidents,” Santana, 63, led Rousseff’s 2010 and 2014 campaigns. He also advised former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in his 2012 re-election bid, producing dramatic, high-budget campaign videos appealing to poor voters.
