The first whistleblower of Operation Lava Jato, former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa, died in 2022, leaving unpaid obligations in his collaboration agreement and massive debts, which are now the subject of legal litigation.
Costa, still in the early stages of Lava Jato, gave up multimillion-dollar assets abroad – which he admitted were of illicit origin – and agreed to pay a compensatory fine in exchange for benefits, such as house arrest. Their statements, along with those of money changer Alberto Youssef, placed a group of construction companies and political parties at the center of the investigation in 2014, paving the way for a deepening of the operation.
After he died of cancer three years ago, his widow Marici was named executor of his will.
While the case is ongoing, lawyer Fernando Fernandes claimed in court the right to receive 5 million reais for the defense made at the start of the operation, saying he preferred the values over the civil compensation in the plea agreement.
Fernandes argued that this debt is of a maintenance nature, being a privileged credit, as established by the Statute of the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association). In August, the lawyer went to the STF (Supreme Federal Court) to request that all values and assets blocked in Paraná, where Lava Jato takes place, be sent to the Family Court of Petrópolis (RJ), where the inventory process takes place.
The lawyer declared at the time that the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) had already recognized him as having a credit preference.
In 2014, after becoming a whistleblower, Costa agreed to forfeit 26 million US dollars (the equivalent today of 140 million reais) held abroad, in addition to paying a compensatory fine of an additional 5 million reais.
According to a 2024 Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office document, after her death, the widow listed the assets and rights of the estate totaling 11 million reais. She argued that she was entitled to one-half of the joint gross estate.
The amounts of the compensatory fine to Lava Jato were declared as debt.
In 2023, the Federal Court of Criminal Execution of Paraná, where the operation is underway, reported a remaining balance of the compensatory fine of 7 million reais. The federal public prosecutor then obtained a lien in the amount corresponding to this, recorded in the inventory of the former director, to guarantee the payment of these obligations.
But there is even greater liability in the assets, coming from a tax enforcement initiated by the Union. Costa was prosecuted for non-payment of taxes, and the total of this debt, plus a fine, was estimated in 2023 at 97.2 million reais. In this case, it was also requested that the goods be seized in the inventory.
The family also approached the Federal Court of Curitiba to try to free up resources to pay other lawyers, who are now handling the defense. The request was rejected in July by federal judge Carolina Lebbos, who found that the blocked assets “resulted from criminal activities”.
A boat that belonged to the former director has already been sold for R$1.4 million, deposited in a court account. The equivalent of a million reais in dollar bills was seized from his home in 2014 and is kept in a bank in Rio, according to reports last year.
In addition, a Land Rover car seized and which played a fundamental role in the Lava Jato investigation, because it revealed the link between the money changer Youssef and the Petrobras project, was transferred to the Paraná Federal Police.
In Petrópolis, responsible judge Claudia Reis said in an order in November that documentation relating to the listed assets had not yet been presented and that eventually “the question relating to the preference of the rated credits will be analyzed.”
When contacted, the defense team for the former director’s family said they would not comment on this matter.
Costa was appointed to the Petrobras Supply Council in 2004, during the first Lula (PT) government, and remained in this position until 2012. He was sponsored to this position by PP leaders and described to the Court a corruption scheme involving contractors involving parties.
He was the target of the first phase of Lava Jato, on March 17, 2014, and arrested a few days later for destruction of evidence.
He was sentenced to more than 70 years in prison in the Paraná case, after spending five months in a closed regime due to the signed agreement. Two girls were also prosecuted at Lava Jato, accused of embarrassing investigations. The family members also signed a collaboration agreement with the Court at the time.
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