Chris Graythen/Getty Images(RIO DE JANEIRO) — Brazilian President Michel Temer has called a bribery charge filed against him, “fiction.”
Temer was hit with an indictment by Brazil’s chief prosecutor Rodrigo Janot filed with the Supreme Federal Tribunal on Monday, accusing the Brazilian leader of accepting bribes from an executive of JBS, a meatpacking firm involved in a corruption scandal.
“Where are the concrete proofs of my receiving this money?” Temer said in a televised address, according to the BBC.
“I will not allow myself to be accused of crimes that I did not commit.”
Audio recordings were released last month with Temer apparently discussing bribes with JBS chairman Joesley Batista. The recording was presented in JBS plea bargain negotiations, the BBC reports.
Temer’s predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, was removed from office nearly a year ago after the Senate found her guilty of breaking budget laws and voted in favor of impeachment.
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