Brazil · Operation Lava Jato (Guarujá triplex and Atibaia farm cases)

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: what happened in the Operation Lava Jato (Guarujá triplex and Atibaia farm cases) case

President of Brazil (2003 to 2010, and from 2023). Federal prosecutors in Curitiba alleged that Lula received undue benefits from construction companies, including the renovation of a triplex apartment in Guarujá, in exchange for favours linked to Petrobras contracts.

Every court stage

1. April 2018
   Imprisoned from April 2018 to November 2019 after second-instance convictions in the triplex and Atibaia cases, which Banda B reported as totalling 29 years and 2 months. He was released after a change in the Supreme Federal Court's position on serving sentences before final appeal.¹Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4)
2. 8 March 2021
   Convictions annulled. Justice Edson Fachin, ruling alone in HC 193.726, held that the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba lacked jurisdiction over the four Lula cases (triplex, Atibaia farm, Instituto Lula headquarters and donations to Instituto Lula), voided its decisions including the acceptance of the charges, and sent the cases to the Federal Justice of the Federal District^2,6Supreme Federal Court (STF)
3. 23 March 2021
   The STF Second Panel, by 3 votes to 2, found that Judge Sergio Moro had been partial in the triplex case (HC 164.493) and annulled all his decisions in that case^6,2Supreme Federal Court (STF), Second Panel
4. 14 April 2021
   STF plenary, by majority, rejected the appeals against Fachin's decision and upheld the finding that the Curitiba court lacked jurisdiction⁶Supreme Federal Court (STF), plenary
5. 23 June 2021
   STF plenary upheld the Second Panel's finding that Moro was partial in the case against Lula²Supreme Federal Court (STF), plenary
6. 7 December 2021
   Federal prosecutors asked for the triplex case to be archived as time-barred, citing the halved limitation period for defendants over 70 and the annulment of the original proceedings. Lula's lawyers said a Federal District court had already found the Atibaia case time-barred.³Federal Justice of the Federal District
7. 27 January 2022
   Triplex case archived. Judge Pollyanna Kelly Maciel Medeiros Martins Alves found the corruption and money laundering charges time-barred, following the prosecutors' request, and noted she had earlier recognised the time bar for Lula in the Atibaia case.^7,812th Federal Criminal Court of the Federal District
8. 6 September 2023
   Justice Dias Toffoli declared the evidence from Odebrecht's leniency agreement unusable, ruling on a complaint (Reclamação 43007) filed by Lula's defence^4,5Supreme Federal Court (STF)
9. 4 October 2026
   Advanced to the 25 October 2026 presidential runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro. Correio da Manhã described him as the sitting president.⁹

Response

Lula's lawyers said in December 2021 that the triplex case had been built artificially from collusion ("conluio") between Moro and former prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, according to Poder360.

Sources

1. Banda B, Saiba o que aconteceu com os principais alvos da Lava Jato de Curitiba (15 February 2021)
2. Migalhas, STF: Moro foi parcial ao condenar Lula (23 June 2021)
3. Poder360, MPF pede arquivamento de caso do tríplex contra Lula (7 December 2021)
4. Correio Braziliense, Toffoli anula provas do acordo de leniência da Lava Jato com Odebrecht (6 September 2023)
5. Congresso em Foco, Toffoli anula todas as provas contra Lula em acordos da Lava Jato (6 September 2023)
6. Dizer o Direito, Entenda a decisão do STF que anulou os processos contra Lula (May 2021)
7. IstoÉ Dinheiro, Juíza arquiva ação contra Lula no caso do triplex (28 January 2022)
8. Gazeta do Povo, Justiça do DF arquiva caso do triplex do Guarujá atribuído a Lula na Lava Jato (28 January 2022)
9. Correio da Manhã, Flávio Bolsonaro lidera apuração e vai disputar segundo turno com Lula (4 October 2026)