SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has appointed André Mendonça as the new Justice Minister, replacing Sergio Moro who resigned last Friday after accusing his boss of wrongdoing, according to the official gazette on Tuesday.
Mendonça, 47, previously served as Brazil’s attorney general and was once considered for a nomination to the Brazilian Supreme Court.
As attorney general, Mendonça is credited with recovering some 7.5 billion reais ($1.33 billion) from companies accused of corruption by means of leniency deals, whereby the firms agree to cooperate with the probe.
Alexandre Ramagem, former head of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin), was named federal police chief, replacing Mauricio Valeixo, according to the publication. Bolsonaro dismissed Valeixo last Friday.
Ramagem is a close friend of the Bolsonaro family and took charge of the personal security of the then presidential candidate when he was stabbed on the campaign trail in 2018. Ramagem had become intelligence chief last July.
Moro, a former judge who is popular for jailing corrupt politicians and businessmen, had said he was quitting the government because Bolsonaro had fired the chief of the federal police for personal and political reasons.
