order to prevent a legal dispute over paternity. Costa's explanation was promptly accepted but not further investigated. The court, the right-wing opposition, and the corporate media turned their full attention to the leaking of the bank statement as a breach of Costa's financial privacy rights. The right-wing opposition and a great part of the corporate media called the release of Costa's bank statement state-orchestrated harassment. The Federal Police of Brazil began an investigation into the case, which soon spiraled into a media circus for the Labor Party: officials and directors at the Caixa Econômica Federal confessed to releasing Costa's bank statement. The alleged chain of command went up as far as the Ministry of Finance, and the bank's chairman said that he handed the details of the account to Palocci personally. The minister denied this, but resigned on March 27, 2006, and was replaced by economist Guido Mantega. References |- |- 1960 births Living people Brazilian public health doctors People from Ribeirão Preto Finance Ministers of Brazil Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians University of São Paulo alumni Mayors of places in Brazil Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from São Paulo Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian politicians convicted of corruption Chiefs of Staff of Brazil