Sergio Moro

Sergio Fernando Moro (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɛʁʒju ˈmoɾu]; born 1 August 1972) is a Brazilian jurist, former federal judge and college professor who served as Minister of Justice and Public Security for the government of president Jair Bolsonaro, from 2019 to 2020.[2][3] In 2015 he gained fame in Operation Car Wash (Portuguese: Operação Lava Jato), a high-profile scandal of corruption and bribery involving government officials and business executives.[4][5]

Sergio Moro
Minister of Justice and Public Security
In office 1 January 2019 – 24 April 2020
President	Jair Bolsonaro
Preceded by	Torquato Jardim (Justice) Raul Jungmann (Public Security)
Succeeded by	André Luiz Mendonça
Personal details
Born	Sergio Fernando Moro[1] 1 August 1972 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
Spouse(s)	Rosângela Wolff de Quadros
Children	2
Mother	Odete Starke Moro
Father	Dalton Áureo Moro
Education	State University of Maringá (BA) Federal University of Paraná (MA) (PhD)
Signature

On 29 October 2018, days after the 2018 election, President-elect Jair Bolsonaro nominated Moro to be Minister of Justice and Public Security.[6] On 1 November, Moro accepted the job after personally meeting with Bolsonaro.[7][8] His appointment to Bolsonaro's cabinet and the way he had previously conducted Operation Car Wash (in particular President Lula's case) drew praise from his peers and by a significant portion of the Brazilian society, but also significant criticism was voiced, especially after revelations of alleged partiality and judicial misconduct on his part, published by the American investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald, during the Car Wash investigations.[9][10][11][12][13][14] Moro left the government in April 2020, mentioning the President's undue interference in the affairs of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.[3] Since November 2020 he is a lawyer on Alvarez and Marsal.[15]

Personal life

Moro was born in Maringá,[16] son of Odete Starke Moro and Dalton Áureo Moro, a former professor of geography at the State University of Maringá, who died in 2005.[17] His elder sibling, César Fernando Moro, owns a technology company.[18][19] The Moro family moved to Ponta Grossa when Sergio and César were children.[20] He is of Italian descent, with origins in the region of Veneto,[21] and identifies as Catholic.[22]

Moro is married to Rosângela Wolff de Quadros, a lawyer and current legal solicitor of the National Association of Parents and Friends of Exceptional Children (Associação de Pais e Amigos dos Excepcionais). They live in Curitiba and have a couple of school-age children.[23] In addition to his professional career, little is known about his personal life.[24][25] An article published in December 2014 by IstoÉ magazine described him as someone with "reserved lifestyle and simple habits".[26]

Academic education

Moro got a Law degree from State University of Maringá in 1995.[26] During his studies, he interned in a law firm for two years, being described as a "sensational person" by the lawyer who hired him.[27] He attended a summer course at Harvard Law School in 1998, including studies on money laundering promoted by the US Department of State.[26] He received his master's degree in 2000 from the Federal University of Paraná with the dissertation "Development and Judicial Enforcement of Constitutional Norms", guided by Professor Clèmerson Merlin Clève.[28][29] In 2002, he completed a PhD in State Law at the same institution with the thesis "Constitutional Jurisdiction as Democracy", guided by Marçal Justen Filho.[30][31] In 2007, he participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program in which he visited U.S. agencies and institutions responsible for preventing and combating money laundering.[32]

Career

In 1996, Moro started teaching to law graduates at his alma mater, the Federal University of Paraná. This very same year, he became a federal judge in Porto Alegre, before moving to Joinville, Santa Catarina, in 1999. Between 2003 and 2007, Moro worked in a case involving the public bank Banestado. The investigation resulted in the arrest of nearly 200 people for tax evasion and money laundering.[33]

In 2012, he worked with Rosa Weber, a minister of the Brazilian Supreme Court, in the Mensalão scandal. Weber called him because of his experience with cases involving financial crimes, more specifically money laundering.[34]

Operation Car Wash

Moro in 2015.

In 2014, while working in Curitiba, Sergio Moro became one of the head judges in Operation Car Wash (Portuguese: Operação Lava Jato), a massive criminal investigation that started as a money laundering case and evolved to a huge corruption scandal crackdown, involving bribery and misappropriation of public funds by political authorities.[35] The investigation was modeled after Mani pulite in Italy.[36] Corruption scandals in Brazil usually take a long time to be investigated and the legal processes tend to stagnate. However, at an unusual speed, Moro authorized further investigations, detentions and interrogations of suspects.[37] By late 2017, at least 120 sentences were carried and 175 people were sent to jail. Despite some criticism from fellow jurists for being a "media darling", Moro enjoyed high popularity with the Brazilian people and became one of the main faces in the fight against corruption in the country.[38]

Despite criticisms regarding the high speed with which he imposed sentences in such a complex case,[39] his actions were backed by the Brazilian Supreme Court and most of his sentences and decisions were upheld in higher courts.[40] By late 2016, Moro had sent 28 people to jail on charges of corruption, with four of them having their sentences reduced and another four being acquitted by higher courts. Overall, in Operation Car Wash, 71% of the sentences given by Moro were upheld by the Brazilian Regional Federal Courts.[41]

In 2017, Moro sentenced former Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to 9 and a half years in jail, on the charges of money laundering and passive corruption. The sentencing caused an uproar in Brazil, with many widely supporting and saluting the judge for his decision, with others claiming he was getting ahead of himself.[42] Lula was considered the frontrunner for the 2018 presidential election.[36]

Minister of Justice

In many of his encounters with the media and further interviews, Sergio Moro described himself as "apolitical" and said he had no interested in joining the political world. However, right after the 2018 elections, rumors started to circulate that the president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, was considering nominating Moro to head of the Ministry of Justice. Despite claiming he was unaware of such a plan, it was later revealed that Moro was contacted by Paulo Guedes, an incoming member of Bolsonaro's administration, during Bolsonaro's election campaign.[43] Exactly four days after the election, on 1 November 2018, Moro met with Bolsonaro and it was announced that he would become a minister in Bolsonaro's administration.[44][45]

His nomination was well received by fellow magistrates across the country,[46] but opponents of Bolsonaro and some people in the press criticized the decision on the grounds of conflict of interest, claiming that Moro's sentencing of former president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva greatly benefited Bolsonaro's bid for the presidency.[47]

On 12 May 2019, president Bolsonaro publicly expressed the intention of nominating Moro to the Supreme Federal Court, replacing Justice Celso de Mello, who would retire in 2020.[48] However, on 1 October 2020, he nominated Kassio Nunes Marques.

On 24 April 2020, after an unjustified discharge of Federal Police's Director-General Maurício Valeixo by president Bolsonaro, Moro announced he would leave the Ministry, while denouncing the president's intention to meddle in investigations.[49] He then started a career as lawyer and attorney.

Controversies

Moro holding a press conference in September 2015

Moro's methods have been questioned by his peers and audited by Brazilian Justices since 2005.[50] In 2007, when a defendant wasn't to be found at home, he issued an order to monitor the lists of passengers of all airliners flying from Ciudad del Este in Paraguay and from Porto Alegre in Brazil to Curitiba in order to track the movements of the defendant's attorneys.[50] From 2007 through 2010, he issued an order to record and collect all phone communications and visitor booth talks between all inmates, their families and attorneys at Catanduvas Federal Penitentiary in order to "prevent future crimes".[50]

These cases, among others, have been considered excesses and have brought grave criticism on Moro. Justice Celso de Mello has officially accused Moro of condoning a "nosy police state" and acting as an "investigative judge".[50] Additionally, Brazilian Justice Gilmar Mendes said he was worried about Moro's actions. For him, the case showed a "set of abusive acts" and "objectionable excesses" practiced by the judge. In his dissenting opinion he wrote that they are "unacceptable behaviors in which resistance or nonconformity of the magistrate is envisaged, when contradicted by decision of superior instance".[51]

On 6 December 2016, at a ceremony in which Moro was awarded a Man of the Year prize by Brazilian Editora Três publishing house, Moro was photographed laughing alongside Brazilian Senator Aécio Neves,[52] PSDB's candidate in Brazil's 2014 Presidential Election and main critic of PT's tenures in office. Since PT is the party most scrutinized by Operation Carwash, the photograph has caused an uproar among PT supporters. During an interview, Moro has said that "the photograph was unfortunate, but there's no bias in my decisions as a judge", while also remarking that Neves is not under his jurisdiction.[53] Neves was accused by five witnesses at Operation Carwash[54] of taking R$300,000 in bribes from Alberto Youssef.[55]

The speed with which Moro has treated specific actions that involve figures from the Brazilian left and his courteous relationship with members of the former opposition, some of which under investigation themselves, has been criticized by Brazilian jurists[56] and left-wing activists and politicians, who accuse Moro of being part of a lawfare strategy[57] in order to ostracize PT and bring PSDB to power.[58]

During a lecture at Harvard University in 2017, Sergio Moro stated that he considers the use of undeclared donations – a crime in Brazilian electoral law – to fund elections more damaging than illicit enrichment through corruption: "If I take this bribe and deposit the money in Switzerland, the money stays there, it isn't harming anyone at the moment. If, however, I use the money to fraud and win an election, I find that terrible."[59][60] In May 2017, then-congressman Onyx Lorenzoni admitted to having used slush funds donated by JBS in his 2014 campaign for Congress.[61][62][63] Lorenzoni has been appointed Chief of Staff by president-elect Jair Bolsonaro;[64] upon being questioned by the press about Lorenzoni's public admission on the use of slush funds, Moro has stated that Lorenzoni has already apologized to him and has his "personal trust".[65][66][67][68][69] In November, 2018, Senator Roberto Requião (MDB) proposed a bill called "Lorenzoni Law", which would grant immediate pardon for anyone found guilty of electoral and public administration crimes or crimes against the national financial system, as long as they ask for forgiveness. This proposal, although official, has been considered a joke on Moro's statements.[70][71][72]

Telegram leaks

On 9 June 2019, the online newspaper The Intercept published leaked Telegram messages between Moro and the Operation Car Wash lead prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, in which Moro allegedly sent advice and instructions to the prosecutor in order to interfere in the investigation that ultimately led to the trial and imprisonment of former president Lula da Silva.[73] He was accused of not showing impartiality as a judge of da Silva's trial.[74] Three days later, another conversation was leaked, revealing a secret meeting between Dallagnol and Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux, asking for his support against the then fellow Supreme Court judge Teori Zavascki.[75] Moro has thoroughly denied any wrongdoing during the course of Operation Carwash and claimed that the conversations leaked by The Intercept were misrepresented by the press.[76] He also claimed that the messages could be inauthentic.[74]

On June 12, Brazilian conservative magazine Veja published a report accusing Moro of “illegally” steering prosecutors as they worked to convict Brazilian politicians and "overstepping his role as judge," claiming that its journalists had spent a fortnight pouring over nearly 650,000 leaked messages between officials involved in the investigation, and concluded the former judge was guilty of serious “irregularities.” Following the report, Moro released a statement condemning “the distorted and sensationalist diffusion of supposed messages obtained by criminal means.”[77][78]

References

1. Brown, Dennis (2 October 2017). "Brazilian Judge Sergio Moro receives Notre Dame Award". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
2. "A história de Sergio Moro, o juiz que sacudiu o Brasil com a Lava-Jato". GaúchaZH (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 November 2018.
3. "Ex-juiz Sergio Moro anuncia demissão do Ministério da Justiça e deixa o governo Bolsonaro" [Former judge Sergio Moro announces resignation of the Ministry of Justice and leaves the Bolsonaro's government]. G1.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 April 2020.
4. "Effects of Petrobras scandal leave Brazilians lamenting a lost dream". The New York Times. 9 August 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2017. If any good has come from the Petrobras debacle it is the flickering sense that this time could be different. Part of the reason is the work of Judge Sérgio Moro, who is overseeing the investigation, officially known as Operação Lava Jato, or Operation Carwash.
5. Cruz, Fernanda (31 August 2015). "Sergio Moro fighting corruption should bring benefits to Brazil". Agência Brasil. Retrieved 15 July 2017."Federal Judge Sérgio Moro, in charge of the proceedings opened under Operation Car Wash"..."The judge reported that the evidence gathered during the operation as well as the allegations given under plea bargain indicate that the payment of bribes through contracts at Petrobras was a common practice."
6. "Bolsonaro vai convidar o juíz Sérgio Moro para ser ministro" (in Portuguese). Último Segundo. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
7. "Moro aceita convite de Bolsonaro para comandar o Ministério da Justiça" (in Portuguese). G1. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
8. "Bolsonaro appoints judge who helped jail Lula to lead justice ministry". The Guardian. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
9. McCoy, Terrence (13 July 2019). "Glenn Greenwald has faced pushback for his reporting before. But not like this". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
10. "Brazil must reveal investigations into journalist Glenn Greenwald, court says". The Guardian. Associated Press. 16 July 2019. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
11. Petrov, Arkady (16 July 2019). "Federal Police Plan Arrest and Fake Confession of Vaza Jato Hacker, Says Intercept". The Rio Times. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
12. Londoño, Ernesto (20 July 2019). "'The Antithesis of Bolsonaro': A Gay Couple Roils Brazil's Far Right". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
13. "Brésil: tentative de piratage des téléphones de Bolsonaro". FIGARO. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
14. "The Brazilian justice minister's dubious deportation decree | DW | 30.07.2019". DW.COM. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
15. Temóteo, Antonio (30 November 2020). "O que faz a empresa que contratou Moro e tem entre clientes a Odebrecht". economia.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2 December 2020.
16. Hasselmann, Joice (2016). Sérgio Moro: a História do Homem por Trás da Operação que Mudou o Brasil [Sérgio Moro: The History of the Man Behind the Operation that Changed Brazil] (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Universo dos Livros. p. 208. ISBN 978-8550300214.
17. "Sérgio Moro – o queridinho do Brasil". O Guaíra. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
18. "César Fernando Moro". Escavador. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
19. Lorenzetto, Mário Sérgio (27 April 2015). "Um juiz de vida espartana. Sérgio Moro, o juiz que abalou a República". Campo Grande News. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
20. "SÉRGIO MORO - O juiz que o Brasil nunca esquecerá". Recanto das Letras (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 November 2018.
21. "Sérgio Moro – o queridinho do Brasil". 19 March 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
22. "Bolsonaro prometeu STF a Moro, mas agora fala em ministro evangélico". Gazeta do Povo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 June 2020.
23. Londres, Mariana; Sousa, Marc (17 March 2015). "Dois anos após Lava Jato, Sérgio Moro troca de carro e passa a andar com segurança 24 horas". R7. Record. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
24. "Sérgio Moro, o juiz de Curitiba que tem o futuro do Brasil nas mãos". Público. 9 August 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
25. Galindo, Rogerio Waldrigues (11 December 2015). "Sérgio Moro, um ilustríssimo desconhecido". Gazeta do Povo. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
26. "Sérgio Moro: veja quem é o juiz que ganhou projeção nacional com a Lava Jato". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 November 2018.
27. Editora, On Line; Editora, Política On Line (20 April 2016). Sérgio Moro: Guia Conhecer Fantástico Atualidades Ed.01. On Line Editora.
28. "Staff View: Desenvolvimento e efetivação judicial das normas constitucionais". 4 March 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
29. Moro, Sergio Fernando. Development and Judicial Enforcement of Constitutional Norms. Dissertation presented to the Law Postgraduate Degree of the Federal University of Paraná, as a partial requirement to obtain the Master's degree, having as advisor Prof. Dr. Clèmerson Merlin Clève. Curitiba, 2000.
30. Moro, Sergio Fernando. Jurisdição constitucional como democracia. Thesis presented to the Postgraduate Course in Law of the Federal University of Paraná, as a partial requirement to obtain the title of Doctor, having as advisor Prof. Dr. Marçal Justen Filho. Curitiba, 2002.
31. "Rápido, discreto e obstinado: conheça o juiz que se tornou o pesadelo dos acusados na Lava Jato". R7.com (in Portuguese). 14 April 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
32. Moro, Sergio (28 October 2013). "Curriculum vitae". Currículo Lattes (in Portuguese). CNPq. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
33. "Comissão aprova homenagens a Sérgio Moro e ao Papa na Assembleia" (in Portuguese). G1. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
34. "Grupo de juízes auxilia STF no julgamento do mensalão". Folha de São Paulo. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
35. "Saiba por que a Lava Jato é considerada a maior investigação da história do Brasil". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
36. Bevins, Vincent (21 August 2019). "The Dirty Problems With Operation Car Wash". The Atlantic. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
37. "Moro sonha com o fim da Lava Jato até dezembro". Estadao. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
38. "Who is Sergio Moro, the judge making Brazil's headlines?". BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
39. "'Estamos em tempos excepcionais', diz Moro ao defender prisões preventivas". UOL. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
40. "Em dois anos e meio, apenas três sentenças da Lava Jato chegaram ao final no TRF4". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
41. "Tribunal ratifica ou sobe pena de 71% dos condenados por Moro". O Estado de S. Paulo. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
42. "Judge Orders Brazil's Ex-President 'Lula' to Begin Prison Term on Friday". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
43. Albuquerque, Carlos. "Controversial appointment". D+C, development and cooperation.
44. "Moro aceita convite de Bolsonaro para comandar o Ministério da Justiça". G1. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
45. "This Man Is Playing a Big Role in Brazil's Election—and He Isn't Even on the Ballot". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
46. "Associação dos Magistrados elogia a escolha de Moro para Ministério". R7. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
47. "Análise: Por que a nomeação de Moro por Bolsonaro caiu mal na imprensa internacional?". UOL. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
48. Babiéri, Luiz Felipe (12 May 2019). "Bolsonaro diz que vai indicar Sérgio Moro para vaga no STF" (in Portuguese). G1. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
49. Colon, Leandro (24 April 2020). "Sergio Moro, o juiz da Lava Jato, anuncia sua demissão do governo Bolsonaro" (in Portuguese). Folha de S. Paulo. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
50. "Excessos de Sergio Moro são discutidos no STF e no CNJ pelo menos desde 2005".
51. "Supremo já analisou 'excesso' de Moro no caso Banestado - Política - Estadão". Estadão (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 November 2018.
52. "Viu esta foto? Entenda por que a descontração entre Moro e Aécio repercutiu - Notícias - Política".
53. "Moro diz que foto com Aécio foi 'infeliz', mas nega parcialidade".
54. Antonio, José. ""Quem não conhece o esquema do Aécio?", pergunta Sergio Machado".
55. marcelop. "Aécio Neves teria recebido R$ 300 mil em propina da UTC, diz delator".
56. "Juristas denunciam 'lawfare' no Brasil através de carta internacional".
57. "A ultraceleridade seletiva da Lava Jato é forma de Lawfare". 10 April 2018.
58. "Ocupado com PT e viagens internacionais, Moro está sem tempo para julgar corrupção do PSDB". 12 June 2018.
59. "Caixa 2 é pior que corrupção para enriquecimento ilícito, diz Sérgio Moro". Estadão. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
60. "Para Moro, caixa dois é pior que enriquecimento ilícito". Valor Econômico. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
61. "Onyx Lorenzoni admite ter recebido dinheiro de caixa dois da JBS". Congresso em Foco. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
62. "Braço direito de Bolsonaro admitiu ter recebido caixa 2 da JBS". Folha de São Paulo. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
63. "Moro diz "admirar" colega de ministério que recebeu caixa 2 da JBS". Valor Econômico. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
64. "Quem é Onyx Lorenzoni, futuro ministro da Casa Civil no governo Bolsonaro". Folha de São Paulo. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
65. "Em coletiva, Moro explica divergências com Bolsonaro e lista propostas". Exame. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
66. "Moro defende Onyx Lorenzoni e diz que confia em seu trabalho". R7. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
67. "Moro aponta Lava Jato e pacote anticorrupção como nortes e vê Bolsonaro "ponderado"". UOL. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
68. "Moro reafirma "confiança pessoal" em Onyx". Agência Brasil. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
69. "Moro diz ter "confiança pessoal" em Onyx, que admitiu caixa dois". Veja. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
70. "Requião ironiza Moro e propõe projeto de lei "Ônix Lorenzoni"". Folha de São Paulo. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
71. "Requião ironiza Moro e propõe 'Lei Onyx' para perdoar arrependidos". Estadão. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
72. "Requião propõe "Lei Lorenzoni" de perdão para criminosos arrependidos". Exame. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
73. Fishman, Andrew; Martins, Rafael Moro; Demori, Leandro; Santi, Alexandre de; Greenwald, Glenn (9 June 2019). "Breach of Ethics: Exclusive: Leaked Chats Between Brazilian Judge and Prosecutor Who Imprisoned Lula Reveal Prohibited Collaboration and Doubts Over Evidence". The Intercept. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
74. Londoño, Ernesto (25 July 2019). "Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil President, Says His Phones Were Hacked". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
75. "Em nova mensagem divulgada por site, Dallagnol diz que Fux apoiou Moro em 'queda de braço' com Teori" [In New Message Published By Website, Dallagnol Says That Fux Supported Moro In 'Arm Wrestling' With Teori] (in Portuguese). G1. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
76. "Moro nega ter orientado procuradores da Lava-Jato e abandona entrevista". Correio Braziliense (in Portuguese). 10 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
77. "Novos diálogos revelam que Moro orientava ilegalmente ações da Lava Jato". VEJA.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 September 2019.
78. correspondent, Tom Phillips Latin America (5 July 2019). "Brazil: calls grow for Bolsonaro ally to quit after 'devastating' report on leaks". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 September 2019.