Shafaq News/ The Brazilian Supreme Court has delivered a significant blow to former President Fernando Collor, sentencing him to 8 years and ten months in prison on charges of financial corruption and money laundering within the Petrobras scandal (PETR4.SA).

With a majority of eight out of ten judges ruling in favor of the conviction last Thursday, the court issued the sentence against Collor yesterday. The court's rapporteur, Judge Edson Fashin, had previously revealed that the former president could face a maximum sentence of 33 years behind bars for the charges brought against him.

At 73 years old, Collor was the first Brazilian president elected through direct universal suffrage following the end of the military "dictatorship" that governed the country from 1964 to 1985.

The charges against Collor stem from allegations that he accepted bribes totaling 20 million riyals (approximately 3.8 million euros) as a senator between 2010 and 2014.

Judge Fashin determined that Collor had exploited his "political influence to facilitate the signing of contracts."

The Public Prosecution Office claims that the former president received around forty payments in exchange for irregularly facilitating contract agreements between a construction company and a subsidiary of the state-owned Petrobras oil group.

Collor's defense attorneys vehemently denied all accusations leveled against him.

This case falls within the broader investigation of the Petrobras scandal, which rocked the entire Brazilian political establishment since its inception in 2014.