Many bankers may be worried about whether some fancy product dreamed up might yetlead to a visit from the police. Daniel Dantas, a financier, who has profited by operating at themiddle place where business and government meet in Brazil, has been opening the door to findthe police outside for much of the past decade. On December 2nd he was convicted of a less sophisticated crime: trying tobribe police officers. Mr. Dantas, who has acquired great notoriety in Brazil, was fined $ 5million and sentenced to ten years in prison. He has appealed against his conviction.

　　The charge stems from a police investigation into money-laundering (洗钱)known asOperation Satiagraha. It grew out of a previous investigation into Mr. Dantas' use of Kroll, asecurity consultancy, to watch over his business partners. During this investigation the policeseized a computer from Opportunity, Mr. Dantas's investment bank, which contained datafrom the mid-1990s to 2004 and apparently showed suspicious movements of money.

　　The judge found that Mr. Dantas tried to pay bribes, via two go-betweens, to keep hisname out of the Satiagraha investigation. A man fitted with a bugging device was offered $1million in cash, with another $ 4 million to follow, the police say. They claim that Mr. Dantas'strick involved money travelling to the Cayman Islands, then via the British Virgin Islands to anaccount in Ireland, on to Delaware, and then re-entering Brazil as foreign investment.

　　For Mr. Dantas his crime is a steep fall from grace. A man who sleeps little and socializesless, he is a vegetarian and self-made billionaire, a gifted financier who has serially fallen outwith his business partners. He once controlled a large telecoms firm, acting for investors whoincluded Citigroup. He says he is the victim of a conspiracy mounted by the government.

　　It is Mr. Dantas' supposed influence in government circles that has added to his notoriety.During the1990s, when many state-owned businesses were privatized, Mr. Dantas positionedhimself as the man with the needed expertise and contacts. He enjoyed easy access to thegovernment of President Femando Henrique Cardoso, including meetings with the presidenthimself. That influence carried through into the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula daSilva. Mr. Dantas is alleged to have been one of the funders of a cash-for-votes scheme inBrazil's 　Congress mounted by leaders of Lula's Workers' Party in 2003-2004. Many of thosewho have had dealings with Mr. Dantas insist that these have been legitimate and conducted ingood faith. They include Luiz Eduardo Greenhalgh, a lawyer and PT politician, whom he hired asa consultant.