Brazil's 'Half-Price Culture' Hurts Artists and Taxpayers

As Brazilian police busts go, last summer's Operation Freeloader wasn't a big deal. The $55 million allegedly purloined by marketing miscreants paled before the Petrobras scandal, in which scores of government contractors and political operators looted Latin America's biggest company. But after the June 28 police raid, when a slick video of a wedding hit the web -- with guests bottle-chugging champagne, shooting confetti canons and frolicking at a seaside resort -- Brazilians paid attention.

That's because thanks to the manipulation of a federal program of subsidies for the arts, the wedding and video were bankrolled by Brazilian taxpayers. The video is now an exhibit in the federal police probe, which led to the arrest of 14 suspects (10 of whom were later released), roiled social media and put Brazil's cultural policy on the pillory.