Silvio José Pereira is a sociologist and co-founder of the Brazilian Workers Party. Born in Osasco

Osasco

Osasco is a municipality and city in São Paulo State, Brazil, is located in the Greater São Paulo and ranking 5th in population among São Paulo municipalities. The current mayor is Emidio Pereira de Souza ....

, São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, he was a key figure in the mensalão scandal

Mensalão scandal

The Mensalão scandal took place in Brazil in 2005 and threatened to bring down the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Mensalão is a neologism and variant of the word for "big monthly payment"...

 and resigned from his post of secretary general of the party on June 4, 2005.

He was accused of receiving a Land Rover

Land Rover

Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...

 from a supplier of Petrobras

Petrobras

Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...

 and of receiving, together with other leading members of the party, illegal withdrawals from the accounts of Marcos Valério

Marcos Valério

Marcos Valério Fernandes de Souza is a Brazilian businessman in the field of public relations and a key figure in the mensalão scandal. He is the owner of two communications firms, DNA and SMP&B.- Early life :...

.