Brazil’s former president, Fernando Collor de Mello, was arrested on Friday following the confirmation of his nearly nine-year prison sentence for corruption and money laundering, according to a source from the federal police.
Collor de Mello, who was Brazil’s first democratically elected president, resigned in 1992 after impeachment proceedings were launched against him over allegations of bribery.
He was 75 years old at the time of his arrest in the country’s northeast.
A top Brazilian court had rejected his appeal to annul the arrest order on Thursday.
The charges against him relate to accusations that he received funds to “irregularly facilitate contracts” between a construction firm and a former subsidiary of Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil company.
This arrest makes Collor de Mello part of a group of former Brazilian presidents who have faced legal issues.
Of the seven presidents who have served the country since the end of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, four have either been convicted, jailed, or impeached.
In a related development, former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to face trial for an alleged coup plot following his defeat in the 2022 election.
