Humberto Costa (born July 7, 1957) is a Brazilian medical doctor and politician. He has represented Pernambuco in the Federal Senate since 2011. Previously, he was a Deputy from Pernambuco from 1995 to 1999. He is a member of the Workers' Party.[1]

Humberto Costa
Senator for Pernambuco
Assumed office
February 1, 2011
Deputy from Pernambuco
In office
January 1, 1995 – January 1, 1999
Personal details
Born (1957-07-07) July 7, 1957 (age 67)
Campinas, Brazil
Political partyWorkers' Party
ProfessionDoctor
NicknameDracula

Corruption scandals

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The Operation Vampire (Operação Vampiro) was an operation carried out in 2004 by the Federal Police of Brazil to investigate the diversion of resources that should have been intended for the purchase of materials and maintenance of public blood banks. 17 arrest warrants and 42 search and seizure orders were served. The investigation found that about R$2.3 billion (US$1 billion) was embezzled. Humberto Costa was the minister of health and personally nominated most of the officials who were arrested in the operation.[2]

Humberto Costa was indicted for receiving R$590,000 (U$200,000) in bribes for favoring overbilling in a contract signed by Odebretch with Petrobras. The indictment took place within the scope of Operation Lava Jato.[3]

The biggest implicated company, Odebrecht kept an entire department to coordinate the payment of bribe to politicians. In the Car Wash Operation, officers seized several electronic spreadsheets linking the payments to nicknames. Every corrupt politician received a nickname based on physical characteristics, public trajectory, personal infos, owned cars/boats, origin place or generic preferences. Humberto Costa's nickname was 'Dracula', referring the "Operation Vampire" when he allegedly embezzled funds from public blood banks.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Senador Humberto Cosal". Federal Senate. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  2. ^ "Vampiros da mala preta". Epoca. 31 May 2004. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Delação da Odebrecht: Humberto Costa é suspeito de receber propina". G1. 11 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Apelidos de políticos na Odebrecht: quem é quem". G1. 16 April 2017.