Antônio Carlos Silva Biscaia (born June 13, 1942, in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

) is former federal prosecutor and currently a politician from Brazil. He is affiliated to the ''

Partido dos Trabalhadores The Workers' Party (, PT) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Brazil, political party in Brazil that is currently the country's ruling party. Some scholars classify its ideology in the 21st century as social demo ...

'' (PT - Workers Party). He is a Professor of Criminal Procedural Law of the Universidade Cândido Mendes (UCAM).Official website
, accessed January 2, 2011

Federal prosecutor

Biscaia became known in the early 1990s as an uncorruptabe federal prosecutor taking on the ''bicheiros'', the operators of the '' jogo do bicho'' ("the animals' game"), a popular illegal lottery in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

.Brazilian Authorities Link Lottery to Political Corruption
Los Angeles Times, April 9, 1994For the details of the game, see Frossard, Denise
"Women in Organized Crime in Brazil
, in Fiandaca, Giovanni (ed.). ''Women and the Mafia''. Springer, 2007 The illegal lottery operators built a mafia-type association (known as the ''cupola do bicho''), that controlled the illegal gambling business and shielded it from prosecution by corrupting authorities and police.Frossard 2007, pp. 186-189
/ref> In 1994, he oversaw a raid on the headquarters of the illegal lottery boss Castor de Andrade and discovered a log book registering regular bribes from the ''bicheiros'' to more than 100 people, including police officers, the judiciary and politicians, such as the former President of Brazil,

Fernando Collor de Mello Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (; born 12 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician who served as the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his impeachment trial by the Brazilian Senate. Collor ...

.''… o Ministério Público apurou o envolvimento de "banqueiros" em mais de 130 homicídios relacionados com o jogo do bicho e comprovou o esquema de corrupção centralizado e dirigido por Castor de Andrade …, que contabilizou a propina a policiais civis e militares, servidores públicos, inclusive do Ministério Público e do Judiciário, e até a conhecidos políticos que receberam ajuda financeira para suas comprometidas campanhas eleitorais.'' (The public prosecutor found the involvement of the "bankers" in more than 130 homicides related to the animal game and proved the corruption scheme directed by Castor de Andrade …, which accounted for the bribing of civilian and military police, public servants, including prosecutors and the judiciary, and even prominent politicians who received financial aid for their electoral campaign.)
A volta dos bicheiros
by Antônio Carlos Biscaia, O Globo, March 22, 1998

In politics

Biscaia was a Federal Deputy for the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

(PT) in the periods 1999-2000, 2003–2007 and 2008-2010. He has been National Secretary of Justice and the Secretary for National Public Security (Secretaria Nacional de Segurança Pública - SENASP) from 2007-2008. On September 29, 2009, Biscaia sponsored a new law in the Brazilian Congress, known as

Ficha Limpa ''Lei da Ficha Limpa'' (''English:'' Clean Record Act) or Complementary Law no. 135 of 2010 is a Brazilian act that amended the ''Conditions of Ineligibility Act'' (''Complementary Law no. 64'' of 1990). It was the fourth bill proposed by direct ...

– meaning ‘clean slate’ in English. The law aims to permanently bar any person from running for any political office (in municipal, state or federal elections) who has any corruption charges or allegations pending against them. The law was a popular initiative by Movement to Combat Electoral Corruption (MCCE), an umbrella group consisting of over 43 like-minded organisations, but officially it will be recorded on his name. On June 4, 2010, the bill was signed and became law.Brazil's groundbreaking step to halt corruption
Al Jazeera, September 6, 2010

Bibliography

New Approaches to Public Security and Drug Policy
Presentation at the International Symposium on Public Security and Drug Policy, Rio de Janeiro, February 25–27, 2008

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biscaia, Antonio Carlos 1942 births Politicians from Curitiba Living people Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Rio de Janeiro (state) Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians