Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro's prosecutor suspects that Senator Flavio Bolsonaro used real estate as a means of laundering the money from his employees' salaries during his tenure in the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly between 2007 and 2018.

Police agents served 24 warrants related to the corruption in Flávio's former office, which included coercing servants to share part of their salary to the parliamentarian. Agents are also investigating crimes of embezzlement, money laundering, concealment, and criminal organization.

The senator's defense criticized the action but said there would be nothing that could incriminate him in the seized material.

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and Eduardo Bolsonaro. (Foto: Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress) - Folhapress

The operation took place almost two years after investigations against Fabrício Queiroz, a retired PM who was Flávio's advisor, began, and whose atypical financial movements extended suspicions to President Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son.

In 2019, after Flavio's request, the findings of the case were suspended from July by the injunction of the President of the Supreme Court (Supreme Court), Dias Toffoli. After the decision of the court plenary, they were resumed this month.

One of the targets of Wednesday's operation was the senator's Kopenhagen franchise at Shopping Via Parque in Barra da Tijuca (west of Rio).

Flávio has owned 50% of the franchise since January 2015. The firm is cited in a report by Coaf (financial intelligence agency) that describes eight transfers, totaling $ 120,000, from it to Flavio between August 2017 and January 2018. The company was subject to bank and tax confidentiality breaches by Justice in April.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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