[1] He was a figure in the Banestado scandal, and later was a major target of Operation Car Wash, the official investigation of corruption surrounding Petrobras, the government-controlled oil company.

[2] Bloomberg described Youssef in January 2015 as “Brazil's black-market central banker, a career criminal who smuggled cash for the rich and powerful”.

[1] In August 2015, The New York Times called him “a convicted money launderer and former bon vivant.”[3] Youssef was arrested in March 2014 for violating the terms of a plea-bargaining agreement.

During his teenage years, after earning a pilot's license, he began smuggling costly electronic items and other merchandise into Brazil from Paraguay, where taxes were far lower, and selling them on.

[1] It was at the airport that he met José Janene, a businessman and pilot who would later become a member of Congress and helped Youssef with his career.

Indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy, he escaped punishment by snitching on local government officials who had been involved in the scandal.

The investigators' big break came with the discovery of an e-mail by Youssef in which he discussed a Range Rover bought for Paulo Roberto Costa, who had been Petrobras's supplies director from 2004 to 2012.

"[3] Youssef told prosecutors that President Dilma Rousseff, who had served as chairwoman of Petrobras from 2003 through 2010, was aware of the kickback scheme.

[7] Youssef was arrested in March 2014, and in September he was sentenced to four years and four months for having violated the terms of a plea bargain regarding the Banestado case.