Cristiane Brasil is the target of a Federal Police operation for a criminal scheme in the Ministry.
The Federal Police are executing search and seizure warrants in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília involving congresswoman Cristiane Brasil (PTB-RJ); she is suspected of participating in a criminal scheme within the Ministry of Labor for the granting of union registrations; in the previous phase of this investigation, warrants were executed against congressmen Paulinho da Força (SD-SP), Jovair Arantes (PTB-GO), and Wilson Filho (PTB-PB).
(Reuters) - The Federal Police are carrying out three search and seizure warrants this Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília involving a member of parliament investigated for suspected participation in a criminal scheme within the Ministry of Labor for the fraudulent granting of union registrations, in the second phase of an operation initially launched at the end of May, the Federal Police reported.
As usual, the Federal Police did not immediately identify the congresswoman targeted in the operation, which was authorized by the Supreme Federal Court (STF). According to Globonews, the congresswoman under investigation is Cristiane Brasil (PTB-RJ).
In the first phase, the so-called "Operation Spurious Registration" executed warrants against three other deputies: Paulo Pereira da Silva, known as Paulinho da Força (SD-SP), Jovair Arantes (PTB-GO), and Wilson Filho (PTB-PB). According to the Federal Police, in addition to the search warrants to be executed this Tuesday, precautionary measures will be imposed at the request of the Federal Police and the Attorney General's Office (PGR), such as the prohibition of frequenting the Ministry of Labor and maintaining contact with the other investigated parties or ministry employees. According to the investigations, an organization composed of politicians, parties, labor unions, and employees is suspected of acting in the irregular granting of union registrations at the Ministry of Labor through the payment of bribes.
According to investigators, payments totaling up to 4 million reais were made based on the irregular approval of a single union registration.
During the first phase of the operation, the national president of the PTB party, former congressman Roberto Jefferson, who is Cristiane Brasil's father, said that the party "never participated in any illicit negotiations at the Ministry of Labor."
Cristiane Brasil was nominated earlier this year by President Michel Temer to be Minister of Labor, but she did not take office because the courts blocked her nomination, alleging that she was not fit to assume the position due to a conviction in a labor lawsuit.