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Cunha may also face two more charges of bribery and perjury in the Supreme Court, Brazil’s Prosecutor General said [Xinhua[
Speaker of Brazil’s House of Representatives (Chamber of Deputies) Eduardo Cunha, once the strongest instigator and supporter of the impeachment proceedings against former President Dilma Rousseff, was himself expelled from chambers late Monday on charges of lying about having a secret Swiss bank account and other allegations related to the Petrobras scandal.
Congress’s Lower House voted 450 to 10 to strip him of his seat and title. There were nine abstentions. Cunha said he had done nothing to warrant such measures and said his ouster was the result of a political vendetta.
The charges were brought against Cunha after officials in Switzerland said they had discovered a number of accounts tied to his wife.
According to Brazilian media, Cunha is suspected of having some five million dollars procured from his involvement in the Petrobras scandal secured in undeclared accounts in Switzerland. Some believe he has similar accounts in the US.
Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot, who brought the charges against Cunha several months ago, said that he had been trying to remove him from office since December. A nationwide petition to remove Cunha has been signed by more than 1.2 million Brazilians.
According to a Datafolha poll in early April, some 77 per cent of respondents wanted Cunha out of office.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
