RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil’s presidential palace announced Monday that Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo is leaving his post, a change that comes after political allies criticized his handling of a big corruption scandal.
Hours before the announcement, a group of police chiefs expressed “extreme concern” at the expected departure of Cardozo, one of President Dilma Rousseff’s closest allies, charging it was a result of political pressure to limit their investigations.
A news release from the presidential office said Cardozo was becoming attorney general—a post that is not involved with criminal investigations and prosecutions. Bahia state prosecutor Wellington Cesar Lima e Silva will be the new justice minister.
Officials in the governing Workers’ Party had complained about Cardozo’s refusal to limit the scope of “Operation Car Wash,” a corruption investigation that has implicated dozens of senior politicians as well as some of the country’s top business executives.
In particular, party members have been angered by investigations into former President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva, who is accused of concealing benefits from construction companies involved in a kickback scandal.
