Brasília---The treasurer of Brazil's ruling Workers Party (PT) will stay in his post for now despite being charged in relation to a huge corruption scandal roiling state oil firm Petrobras, the party chairman said Tuesday.
The public prosecutor investigating the multibillion-dollar kickbacks case which has ensnared some four dozen politicians, mainly PT allies, on Monday charged Joao Vaccari with corruption and money laundering, based on evidence gathered in a year-long investigation.
PT treasurer Vaccari is accused of receiving huge bribes which he insists were political donations.
But Rui Falcao, the party chairman, told reporters Vaccari would stay in his post as "any accusation presupposes he is innocent until proven otherwise."
Falcao added that "all of our donations are legal, registered, accounted for and have been declared to the Superior Electoral Court."
There was no clamor within the party for Vaccari to step down, he added.
Vaccari denies any wrongdoing in the worst corruption scandal Brazil has known, which has left President Dilma Rousseff, a former Petrobras board chair, under intense pressure.
AFP
