Mr Candiota (left, with Mr Meirelles) denies the allegations

A senior official at Brazil's central bank has resigned following allegations of tax evasion. This report from Steve Kingstone:

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Mr Candiota strongly denies any wrongdoing, and prosecutors say he's not under investigation. But on Wednesday he fell on his sword, saying he was resigning to protect the bank.

Under normal circumstances, such a departure would probably draw a line under the affair, but not here. That's because federal prosecutors are investigating the tax affairs of the bank's governor, Henrique Meirelles. The same magazine article alleged that in 2001 he misled the authorities about where he was living, while working for an American-based banking group.

Mr Meirelles says there's no irregularity and that he has no intention of resigning. At least two influential Brazilian newspapers have called for him to go.

Steve Kingstone, BBC News, Sao Paolo

Listen to the words

monetary
relating to money

tax evasion
the crime of not paying the full amount of tax that you should

alleging
if you allege something, you say it without proving it

denies any wrongdoing
says that he has done nothing wrong

fell on his sword
here, decided to resign

draw a line under
bring to a close, end

misled
if you mislead someone, you make them believe something that is not true

irregularity
something that is unacceptable and wrong

he has no intention of
he is not going to

called for him to go
said that he should resign

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