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Brasilia: The
Brazilian Senate's Ethics Committee decided Tuesday to begin the
process of expelling Sen. Demostenes Torres, who is accused of
being part of an organization that runs gambling rackets.
The decision was made unanimously by the 15 members of the
committee, who are convinced that there are reliable indications
of close links between Torres and businessman Carlos Augusto
Ramos, known as "Carlinhos Cachoeira" and the purported head of
the criminal outfit.
Court-authorized wiretaps of Cachoeira, who has been under arrest
since February, revealed his close connection to Torres.
Several of the recordings have been made public by the media and
in some of them, Sen. Torres warned Cachoeira about operations
that the authorities were preparing to combat illegal gambling.
The wiretaps also taint the governors of Brasilia and Goias,
Agnelo Queiroz and Marconi Perillo, respectively.
In addition, they affect the Delta construction firm, which was
awarded lucrative public contracts, notably in Rio de Janeiro,
which is hosting the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Also maintaining close relations with top Delta officials is the
governor of Rio de Janeiro state, Sergio Cabral, who is now
suspected of being linked to a vast corruption network set up by
Cachoeira.
Due to the dimensions of the case, Congress set up a special
bicameral committee to investigate the business activities engaged
in by the companies of Cachoeira, whose legal counsel is former
Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos, one of Brazil's most
respected jurists.
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