A shadowy secretly filmed video of a bribe being paid, barely audible allegations on crackly tapes of telephone calls, police busts of politicians carrying tens of thousands of bank notes in suit cases, and a party worker found at an airport with $100,000 in dollar bills stuffed down his underpants.

Each day, it seems, brings fresh and more outlandish allegations of malpractice by politicians, and Brazil's corruption scandal the worst since the ousting of former President Fernando Collor 13 years ago deepens.