Mais Forbes

The Richest Politicians In Brazil

- It is a vicious circle. Brazilians mostly loathe politicians, but they keep electing the same people for political office. Take the example of former President Jose Sarney, whose family reigned supreme governing Brazil’s poorest state for over five decades, during which they were involved in a number of political scandals. In the meantime, Sarney and his family managed to become one of the country’s richest political clans, with a total net worth pegged by Brazilian media in excess of $100 million.

- Take the example of Lirio Albino Parisotto, Brazil’s richest politician with a net worth pegged by FORBES at $1.9 billion. Parisotto, who was elected second alternate Senator along with Eduardo Braga, a Senator currently representing the state of Amazonas, is one of largest investors in Brazil’s stock market. Born in southern Brazil, he currently lives in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. In 2010 he was invited by Braga to join him as an alternate Senator during his campaign in exchange for financing, a common practice in Brazil.

- Then there’s Blairo Borges Maggi, Brazil’s most powerful man in agriculture and a prominent politician. An eco-villain turned hero, Maggi was awarded Greenpeace’s “Golden Chainsaw Award” in 2005 when he was the governor of the Amazonian state of Mato Grosso, the Brazilian state with the highest deforestation rate, which prompted him to court favor with environmentalists. Elected for a second term a year later, today he is a senator representing Mato Grosso.

- The third place on the list of the Richest Politicians In Brazil belongs to congressman Marcelo Beltrao de Almeida, whose late father Cecilio do Rego Almeida founded one of Brazil’s largest construction companies, CR Almeida. Almeida also holds an alternate position in Brazil’s Parliament, and he is reportedly considering a run for senator after the end of his term of office, in 2015.

- The last on the list of the Richest Politicians In Brazil is congressman Paulo Salim Maluf, a major political figure in the country who is also on the list of Interpol’s most wanted persons along with his son, Flavio Maluf, over charges of conspiracy and larceny in a construction kickback scheme at the expense of Brazilian taxpayers (both Maluf and his son deny any wrongdoing). A former governor and mayor of Sao Paulo, Maluf has been accused of corruption throughout his four-decade long political career, although he has never been convicted by Brazilian courts.