Overview

• Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, was arrested by federal police in Maceio on April 25, 2025.
• His arrest follows the Supreme Federal Court's April 24 order rejecting his final appeal and mandating his immediate incarceration.
• Collor de Mello was convicted in 2023 of accepting nearly 4 million euros in bribes tied to irregular contracts between construction firms and a Petrobras subsidiary.
• The conviction stems from the Lavage-express investigation, a landmark corruption probe that exposed widespread graft in Brazil's political and corporate sectors.
• Collor de Mello, who resigned from the presidency in 1992 amid impeachment proceedings, served as senator for Alagoas from 2006 to 2024 and campaigned for Jair Bolsonaro in 2022.