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Brazilian Police Arrest President Dilma Rousseff’s Campaign Manager

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Joao Santana, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's campaign chief and his wife Monica Moura, leave the Institute of Forensic Science in Curitiba
Joao Santana, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's campaign chief and his wife Monica Moura, leave the Institute of Forensic Science in Curitiba, Brazil, February 23, 2016.Rodolfo Buhrer—Reuters
By Rishi Iyengar

Authorities in Brazil arrested President Dilma Rousseff’s campaign strategist on Thursday, after corruption charges were leveled against him by prosecutors.

João Santana is accused of helping divert funds from the government-run oil company Petrobras, a scandal to which more than 50 top Brazilian politicians have thus far been linked, the BBC reports.

Santana, who is widely considered the brains behind Rousseff’s consecutive election victories in 2010 and 2014, has denied charges that he accepted bribes from several engineering companies. However, many say his arrest will affect ongoing impeachment proceedings against Rousseff, even though those proceedings are unrelated to the Petrobras corruption scandal.

[BBC]

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Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com