Operation Car Wash

Jorge Pontes is a graduate from the FBI National Academy. He spent almost thirty years working for the Federal Police—first as an agent and later as a police chief—both nationwide and abroad, and devoted most of his career to the creation and implementation of units specializing in fighting environmental crime. Marcio Anselmo joined the Federal Police as a clerk in 2004, stationed in Guaíra, and has since been actively involved in investigating financial crime, corruption and money laundering. He worked on the Banestado case in Brasília, and led the investigations on Operation Faktor. From 2018 to 2020, he occupied the post of coordinator-general of the corruption and money laundering unit.

Two law-enforcement officials reflect on a Brazilian corruption scandal… Their thesis is that Brazil suffers from “institutionalised crime”, by which they mean “a fraudulent system that operates with the blessing on the nation’s power structures and the support of a network that pervades all three powers of the state… But their pleas for the independence of the Federal Police, and for more resources for the force, are well made. They are particularly scathing about the distorted priorities imposed by the war on drugs: tens of thousands of poor Brazilians have been locked up while the crimes of the rich and powerful have often gone unpunished.

• ForewordProfessor Robert I. Rotberg1.The arrest of Marcelo OdebrechtINSTITUTIONALIZED CRIME2.From Narcotics to Environmental CrimeNEXT STOP: THE FBIINTERNAL RESISTANCE3.The Embryo of Operation Car WashFROM THE “TRUCKER’S KIT” TO FINANCIAL CRIMETHE FAKTOR “FACULTY”NOTHING WOULD BE THE SAME AGAIN4.The Diversion of the Federal PoliceSKEWING PRIORITIESHEAVIER WORKLOAD, FEWER AGENTS5.From Organized to Institutionalized CrimeTHE OFFICIAL PLATFORMTHE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT’S CHIEF OF STAFFTHE PARADOX OF THE FP UNDER LULATHE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF CORRUPTIONWHITE-COLLAR CRIME AND WEBS FOR SMALL INSECTS6.The Investigation of LulaAN EXPLOSIVE WIRE-TAPTHE ARREST7. Capitalism, the Brazilian WayAN INSTITUTIONALIZED ATTACK ON DEMOCRACYTHE ORIENT EXPRESS EFFECTRAIN HOURSTHE NON-CRIME8.Jewelry, Racketeers, and Bad Checks — a State on the RampageCABRAL’S RIO —MEGA-EVENTS AND MEGA-CORRUPTIONA GLIMPSE OF THE WHALE — A CASE IN PERNAMBUCOTHE POLICE CHIEF IN THE BOW TIE9.The Obstruction of Federal Police InvestigationsTHE TENSEST DAYTHE CAYMAN DOSSIERINSTITUTIONAL LEAKSDILMA’S PHANTOM E-MAILONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN DAYS OF MIXED SIGNALS10.Political AppointmentsTHE “CLEANING CREWS” AND “RESCUE TEAMS”THE KING'S FIFTH11.The Current Role of the Federal PoliceTHE LAST TARGET OF OPERATION CAR WASH: THE JUDICIARYA SYSTEM MADE NOT TO WORKINSTITUTIONALIZED CRIME AS A THREAT TO THE NATION’S DEVELOPMENT12.Proposals for the FuturePostscript: About a PlaneAfterword: The Normalization of MalfeasanceWhy it’s so hard to dismantle institutionalized crime in BrazilLuís Roberto Barroso