Profession Federal Judge Spouse Rosângela Wolff Moro | Religion Roman Catholicism Siblings Cesar Fernando Moro | |
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Full Name Sérgio Fernando Moro Born August 1, 1972 (age 44)
Maringá, Paraná, Brazil ( 1972-08-01 ) Alma mater Maringa State University and Federal University of Paraná Parents Dalton Áureo Moro, Odete Starke Moro Education State University of Maringá (1995), Federal University of Paraná Similar Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff, Eduardo Cunha, Michel Temer, Aécio Neves | ||
Sérgio Fernando Moro ([ˈsɛʁʒjw fɛʁˈnɐ̃dw ˈmo̞ɾw] or [ˈse̯ɾʒjw fe̯ɾˈnɐ̃dw ˈmoɾw]; born August 1, 1972) is a Brazilian federal judge who has gained fame in Brazil for commanding the prosecution of the crimes identified in the investigation nicknamed Operação Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash, in English), a case of high-profile scandals of corruption and bribery involving government officials and business executives.
Moro grew up in Maringá. His parents are Dalton Áureo Moro, a former Geography professor, died in 2005, and Odete Moro, a former Portuguese teacher. His elder sibling is César Fernando Moro, a marathonist and director of a technology firm. He studied abroad through an exchange program at Harvard Law School in 1998. He earned a doctorate at the Federal University of Paraná in 2002 and earned his bachelors of law degree at Maringa State University in 1995. Since 1996, he has been federal judge in Brazil. For acting in favor of retired people, he was known as "juiz dos velhinhos," or "elderly people's judge." Currently, he is an adjunct law professor there and acts as a federal judge in high-profile cases—including Operation Car Wash. In 2007, he participated in the United States Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program in which he visited U.S. agencies and institutions responsible for preventing and combating money laundering.
Understanding as Mani pulite worked, in Italy, Moro built its method in Brazil. According to him, he adopted the way of "falar pelos autos", meaning he communicates what he wants through legal sentences. Besides working on Operation Car Wash, he also coordinated the criminal case dubbed "Banestado," which resulted in the prosecution of 97 individuals, and Operation "Farol da Colina"—in which he decreed the preventive arrest of 103 suspects for committing money laundering, tax evasion and other crimes. Among the arrested was Alberto Youssef, also accused in the Car Wash case. He participated on the judicial team prosecuting the Mensalão scandal as well.
In 2016, he was awarded 13th in Fortune's List of World's Greatest Leaders and was compared to Brazil's real-life edition of The Untouchables for his acts in the prosecution of $3billion corruption scheme in Petrobras. He was also in Time Magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential People for the same year and in 10th place on Bloomberg Businessweek's list of 50 Most Influential People in the World of Finance.
Despite his recent rise to stardom, however, Moro's methods have been questioned by some of his peers, including accusations of lawfare. Justice Celso de Mello has officially accused Moro of condoning a "nosy police state" and acting as an "investigative judge."
Moro is married and has two children.