Brazil president puts investigated lawmaker in Congress post

Brazil's acting President Michel Temer arrives to attend a meeting of ministers and military commanders on the preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, May 16, 2016. Temer assumed the presidency last week after President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and suspended for allegedly employing accounting tricks to hide gaping deficits in the federal budget. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) (The Associated Press)

SAO PAULO – Acting Brazilian President Michel Temer has picked a congressman being investigated by the Supreme Court on an attempted murder allegation to be the government's new leader in the lower house Chamber of Deputies.

Congressman Andre Moura of the conservative Social Christian Party is also being investigated for alleged involvement in the corruption-kickback scheme at state-owned oil company Petrobras.

Moura told reporters Wednesday that the attempted murder accusations against him are unfounded and made by a political rival in the state of Sergipe to ruin his career. He also denied any involvement in the corruption at Petrobras.

Prosecutors say more than $2 billion was paid in bribes and other funds by Brazil's biggest construction and engineering firms in exchange for inflated Petrobras contracts.