Brazilian Federal Police suspect that a colonel friend of Temer owns an offshore company under investigation.

A report from the Federal Police sent to the Supreme Federal Court indicates that João Baptista Lima Filho, a retired colonel and friend of Michel Temer for decades, may be the true owner of the offshore company Langley Trade Co SA, which would be part of the same scheme denounced in Operation Castelhana in 2006; this situation would place José Aparecido da Silva in the position of a "front man" for the colonel, the Federal Police highlights; the colonel is a target of Operation Patmos and was mentioned in a plea bargain by JBS; a former executive of the group stated that Lima Filho was the recipient of R$ 1 million in cash at Temer's behest; the money was part of a bribe passed by JBS to the PMDB politician's campaign.

September 04, 2017, 20:47 PMUpdated June 26, 2018, 14:40 pm

A report from the Federal Police sent to the Supreme Federal Court indicates that João Baptista Lima Filho, a retired colonel and friend of Michel Temer for decades, may be the true owner of the offshore company Langley Trade Co SA, which would be part of the same scheme denounced in Operation Castelhana, from 2006; this situation would place José Aparecido da Silva in the position of a "front man" for the colonel, the Federal Police highlights; the colonel is a target of Operation Patmos and was mentioned in a plea bargain by JBS; a former executive of the group stated that Lima Filho was the recipient of R$ 1 million in cash at Temer's behest; the money was part of a bribe passed on by JBS to the PMDB politician's campaign (Photo: Gisele Federicce).

247 The Federal Police suspect that retired Colonel João Baptista Lima Filho, a friend of Michel Temer, is the true owner of the offshore company Langley Trade Co SA, based in Montevideo, Uruguay.

In a report sent to the Supreme Federal Court, the Federal Police indicate that the offshore company was part of the same scheme denounced in Operation Castelhana, launched in 2006. The investigation dismantled a gang specialized in concealing the link between companies and their true owners, using front men and shell companies.

The document was sent to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) on July 20th, but only released this Monday, August 4th. It contains details of values and other information found during the search and seizure carried out in May at an apartment in the Santo Amaro neighborhood of São Paulo, during Operation Patmos, of which the colonel is a target.

Among the documents, there were several relating to the offshore company Langley. According to the Federal Police, "explosive amounts" were accounted for close to the date the warrant was served. In the previous month, there was R$ 23,66 million available in current accounts and investments, belonging to Lima and Filho and their companies.

The colonel was recently mentioned in a plea bargain testimony from JBS. A former executive of the group stated that Lima Filho was the recipient of R$ 1 million in cash on Temer's orders. The amount was part of a bribe paid by the company to the PMDB politician's campaign.

Another company targeted by Operation Patmos, owned by the colonel, is Argeplan. This operation brought to light the audios of Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG) asking for R$ 2 million in bribes from businessman Joesley Batista, and led to the arrest of federal deputy Rodrigo Rocha Loures (PMDB-PR), former advisor to Temer, for receiving a suitcase containing R$ 500, which investigators believe was intended for Temer.