Foul play mooted in death of Lava Jato judge

THE SUPREME  court justice presiding over Brazil’s biggest corruption case, has died after the small plane he was travelling in crashed into the sea off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, according to local authorities.

The Odebrecht construction company a key player in the Lava Jato corruption scandal   has admitted to paying $788 million in bribes to obtain contracts worldwide,  including at least $59 million in Panama

Judge Teori Zavascki  was  one of three passengers in  a Hawker Beechcraft twin-prop aircraft,  The timing is likely to raise questions of possible foul play reports The Guardian.

Zavascki has played a prominent role in the Lava Jato judicial inquiry into a bribery and kickback scandal that has implicated scores of politicians – including current and former presidents Michel Temer and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and several dozen other prominent politicians – and resulted in the jailing of the former head of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, plus the president of Odebrecht and other senior officers.