BRASILIA, Dec 20 — Brazil's Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge yesterday charged President Michel Temer with corruption and money laundering uncovered in an investigation into graft related to port concessions, according to a statement from her office.

Temer, who leaves office on January 1, is under investigation for allegedly taking bribes in exchange for issuing a decree in 2017 that allowed two port contracts to be extended for up to 70 years.

The president's office said in a statement that he will prove that there were no irregularities and that no company illicitly benefited.

Temer can only be tried while president if Brazil's lower house of Congress votes to allow a trial to proceed, which will not happen before he leaves office.

However, the charges and others previously lodged against Temer will remain, and he will likely have to face them early next year. — Reuters