BRASILIA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Sao Paolo prosecutors on Wednesday denounced presidential candidate and ex-Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin of illegal campaign financing.
Alckmin, the candidate of the Brazilian Social Democrat Party (PSDB), is accused of accepting and failing to declare at least 7.8 million reals (around 1.9 million U.S. dollars) from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to fund his successful gubernatorial reelection run in 2014.
Prosecutor Ricardo Castro requested Alckmin be barred from seeking office and fined.
Through his lawyers, Alckmin denied any financial wrongdoing.
The Public Prosecutor's Office alleges Odebrecht made nine different cash payments to Alckmin's campaign treasurer and former Sao Paolo Secretary of Planning and Management, Marcos Monteiro, in a south Sao Paolo hotel room.
The company expected lucrative public works contracts in exchange, the charges allege.
Odebrecht, one of the continent's largest construction and engineering companies, is at the center of Latin America's largest ever corruption investigation.
Alckmin -- ranked fourth in popularity, according to opinion polls leading up to the Oct. 7 general elections -- is now the third presidential candidate with legal woes that may keep him out of the race.
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges relating to Odebrecht, was registered to be the presidential candidate for the left-leaning Workers' Party (PT).
On Friday, the nation's top electoral body disqualified him, citing Brazil's Clean Record Law, which bars anyone with a criminal record from seeking elected office.
On Tuesday, authorities denounced the PT's backup presidential candidate Fernando Haddad for corruption.
