Rio de Janeiro, Dhu-AlHijjah 20, 1437, September 21, 2016, SPA -- Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face money laundering and corruption charges linked to a massive graft scandal, a Brazilian judge ruled Tuesday, according to dpa. Sergio Moro, the presiding judge in the investigation into the scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras, approved formal charges against Lula, his wife Marisa Leticia Rocco and six others. Brazil's Public Ministry just days ago accused the 70-year-old former president of being the "maximum commander" of the corruption plot. Dozens of politicians and officials are under investigation in the scandal, in which construction companies allegedly paid billions of dollars in bribes for contracts with the oil giant. Lula and Rocco stand accused of accepting kickbacks in the form of a beach apartment built and renovated by a construction company implicated in the scandal, among other alleged crimes. Lula was Brazil's president from 2003-2010 at the head of the leftist Workers Party (PT). If convicted in the case, he would be prevented from running for president in 2018. He has rejected the charges as a politically motivated attempt to keep him from a possible return to the political arena. --SPA 01:56 LOCAL TIME 22:56 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w