The crack under Janones and Flávio in the view of Bolsonarism – 12/02/2023 – Power

The PL requested on Wednesday (29) the impeachment of André Janones (Avante-MG) due to suspicions that the federal deputy had promoted a “rachadinha” scheme in his office. The PL is the party whose main star is Jair Bolsonaro, a surname linked to “rachadinha” scandals.

A Sheet He listened to Bolsonaro supporters in recent days to find out why they have acted with double standards for situations that are essentially the same, the suspicion of appropriation by the parliamentarian of part of the advisors’ salaries.

The justification given by all of them is similar and involves some untruths and inaccuracies. It can be summarized in the speech of Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF), former minister of Bolsonaro.

“The Bible has some Christian principles that I follow. For example, taking money from an orphan, a widow, goes to hell! Taking money from a worker, a family man? This guy, if he doesn’t repent of his sin, he goes to hell. But I wanted to see him arrested. You can put it there [na reportagem] that it is a sin and that you go to hell. The senator-pastor is speaking,” said Damares.

What about the Bolsonaros?

“They were investigated. The difference is that this one has people proving, talking. In the case of Flávio Bolsonaro there was a process, there was an investigation. If there was evidence, don’t you think the Public Ministry would have found a way to convict Flávio?”

To date, there has been no judicial decision against Janones in the case of the “rachadinhas”, but there is an investigation. The former advisors who accuse him have not publicly shown, at least for now, evidence that the parliamentarian put the scheme into practice, which he denies having done.

Regarding the Bolsonaros, more specifically about the current senator Flávio, also from PL, the evidence relating to the case was annulled by the courts shortly after the parliamentarian was denounced by the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro for four crimes related to “rachadinha” — embezzlement, criminal association, money laundering and embezzlement.

This annulment, however, was not due to the analysis of the merits, but rather due to a procedural issue: the Superior Court of Justice and the Federal Supreme Court decided that the first instance in Rio did not have jurisdiction to investigate the case.

During the investigations, however, several pieces of evidence were collected that corroborate the suspicion of a “crack” in Flávio’s office.

There are also several reports, investigations and documents that raise the suspicion that Jair and Carlos Bolsonaro have maintained ghost employees and “cracking” schemes in their offices for years.

In March last year, the DF Public Ministry presented a lawsuit to the Court asking for the president’s conviction for administrative improbity in the Wal do Açaí case, revealed in a report by Sheet 2018.

Other reports from Sheet and other media outlets such as Época and Veja magazines and the newspaper O Globo also showed strong indications of ghost employees and “cracks” in the family’s offices.

In 2023, for example, the Public Ministry of Rio identified transfers of R$2 million to the chief of staff of councilor Carlos Bolsonaro (now Republican) made by employees of his office, from 2009 to 2018.

The Bolsonaros have always denied irregularities, but they almost never responded directly to the evidence of the alleged schemes and always worked to block the investigations.

“There was no proof, what proof did you have? Where there is smoke there is fire, we know, that’s fine. But we understand that the president [Bolsonaro] was the victim of a frame-up and a plot by part of the Brazilian press to place the convicted person in the government”, says federal deputy Cabo Gilberto (PL-PB).

Bia Kicis (PL-DF), another first-time Bolsonarist deputy, follows the same line. Regarding Janones, she claims to see “lipstick on her underwear”. Regarding the Bolsonaros, the discourse changes: “We were always in favor of investigating everything, everything, right? In that case, there was a demonization that was carried out by a Public Ministry that was totally incompetent in the case.”

Colonel Chrisóstomo (PL-RO) states that Janones’ attitude tarnishes the image of parliamentarians. “It’s very serious. Charging ‘rachadinha’. Rudely. We need good examples. Enough of people calling us thieves”, he says.

The suspicions against the Bolsonaro clan, however, are different, he says. “Any ‘crack’ is frowned upon, but these cases have no proof whatsoever, no one has proven it, no one has presented anything. Filing a complaint, the Public Prosecutor’s Office files it against any citizen, now proving it is another thing.”

The leader of the PL bench, Altineu Côrtes (RJ), summarizes the party’s speech: “These are not suspicions, they are facts. Not only the issue of corruption, but also the mistreatment he practices with his advisors, threats, Treats advisors like nothing [Janones é acusado por ex-assessores de assédio moral]. I think it will be a shame for the Chamber of Deputies if Janones is not impeached.”

Regarding Bolsonaro, Altineu states that he is the most attacked person in Brazil and that there is no comparison. “The press is the one who compares, which acts with partiality.”

The suspicions against Janones —who was part of the front line of Lula’s (PT) campaign on social media in 2022— became public after the website Metrópoles revealed last week audio from 2019 in which the deputy from Minas Gerais, in his first term in Chamber, informed advisors that they would have to return part of his salaries so that he could rebuild his assets.

Two former advisors told Sheet that the scheme was implemented.

Janones says he does not consider the request he made at the meeting to be illegal and, furthermore, states that nothing materialized subsequently.

Chronology of suspected ‘rachadinha’ and ghost employees in the Bolsonaro clan

2018

Wal do Açaí

• In January 2018, the Sheet revealed the existence of a ghost employee for 15 years in Jair Bolsonaro’s office in the Chamber. Walderice Santos da Conceição lived in Vila Historica de Mambucaba (RJ) and was the wife of the deputy’s caretaker, who had a beach residence in the locality. There was no indication that she had any legislative activity.
• The Federal Public Ministry presented a lawsuit to the Court in 2022 asking for the conviction of Bolsonaro and Walderice for improbity.

Flávio Bolsonaro and Fabrício Queiroz

• Operation Furna da Onça, which investigated the payment of bribes by former governor Sérgio Cabral to state deputies, found atypical financial transactions made by advisors to state deputies in Rio, including Fabrício Queiroz, from Flávio Bolsonaro’s office.
• In December 2018, with Jair Bolsonaro already elected president, the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo revealed a Coaf report showing atypical movement in Queiroz’s accounts in the amount of R$1.2 million, which included transfers from cabinet employees and cash withdrawals.
• The deposit of a check for R$24,000 into Michelle Bolsonaro’s account was also detected.

2019

The explanations

• Flávio always denied having promoted “rachadinha”. Jair Bolsonaro said that the check on his wife’s account was part of the payment of a debt that Queiroz owed him.
• At first, Queiroz said that the movement had to do with the sale and purchase of cars and other goods.
• In February 2019, however, Queiroz stated in writing to the Public Ministry that he collected part of the salaries of his boss’s employees to informally hire more advisors to work for Flávio.

Adriano da Nóbrega

Chocolate

• Based on breaches of banking secrecy, the Public Ministry stated that Flávio Bolsonaro laundered up to R$2.3 million through real estate transactions and through a chocolate store in a shopping mall in Barra da Tijuca.

Carlos Bolsonaro

• Also in 2019, Rio councilor Carlos Bolsonaro dismissed several advisors from his office, some of them with signs of being ghosts. In the second half of that year, the Public Ministry opened two procedures to investigate Carlos on suspicion of using ghost employees and the practice of “rachadinha”

2020

Flávio Bolsonaro and Fabrício Queiroz

• Fabrício Queiroz was arrested in June in Atibaia (SP), at a property owned by lawyer Frederick Wassef.
• The Public Ministry stated that Flávio Bolsonaro had 70% of his daughters’ health plan bills and school fees paid with cash, from 2013 and 2018.
• In June, Flávio Bolsonaro achieved the first significant victory in his offensive to try to stop investigations into the “crack”. The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Justice granted him a special forum, removing the case from the hands of judge Flávio Itabaiana, of the 27th Criminal Court, and transferring it to the Special Body of the TJ.
• The breach of confidentiality in the Public Prosecutor’s Office investigation showed that Queiroz deposited R$25,000 in cash into the account of Flávio Bolsonaro’s wife a week before the couple paid the first installment on the purchase of a penthouse under construction in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro . In an interview with the newspaper O Globo, Flávio admitted that Queiroz paid his personal bills, but said that the origin of the money was legal.
• The Public Ministry indicted Flávio Bolsonaro in October for embezzlement, money laundering, misappropriation and criminal organization in the case of the “rachadinhas”. The complaint includes testimony from a former Flávio advisor that she returned most of her salary to Queiroz. The piece also states that the “rachadinha” increased Flávio Bolsonaro’s assets by R$1 million.

Unusual movement

2021

Flavio Bolsonaro

• In February, the majority of ministers of the Fifth Panel of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) annulled Flávio’s breach of banking and tax secrecy, on the grounds of problems with the reasoning in the court decision.
• The release by UOL of recordings of a former sister-in-law of Jair Bolsonaro brought new evidence of the former president’s “rachadinha” activities while he was a federal deputy.
• In August, João Otávio de Noronha, from the STJ, suspended the investigation into the “crack” against Flávio.
• Another former advisor to Flávio, Marcelo Nogueira, stated that he was obliged to hand over 80% of his salary monthly.
• In November, the Fifth Panel of the STJ annulled all decisions taken by the first instance of the Rio de Janeiro Court in the case of the “rachadinhas”. The argument was that judge Flávio Itabaiana, from the 27th Criminal Court of Rio, did not have the power to investigate Flávio Bolsonaro.
• Days later, Minister João Otávio de Noronha, from the STJ, decided that the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro should present a new complaint against Flávio so that the investigations into the “rachadinha” case could continue.
• On November 30, the Second Panel of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) decided to maintain the special forum granted to Flávio by the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice.

2022

Flavio Bolsonaro

Jair Bolsonaro

2023

Carlos Bolsonaro