Paulo Pimenta points to Ramagem's possible involvement in leaking the Queiroz case to the Bolsonaro clan.

247 - The political scandal this Sunday, regarding the leak of the investigation into the Queiroz/rachadinha scheme to the Bolsonaro clan before the second round of the presidential election, may have involved the participation of delegate Alexandre Ramagem, appointed by Jair Bolsonaro to head the Federal Police. "The accusation that @jairbolsonaro's family was warned during Operation Furna da Onça by a Federal Police delegate from Rio de Janeiro was made by me in January 2019. On October 15, 2018, Queiroz was dismissed from @FlavioBolsonaro's office and his daughter from @jairbolsonaro's office," posted Congressman Paulo Pimenta on his Twitter account.

"Operation Furna da Onça is a continuation of Operation Cadeia Velha. Operation Cadeia Velha was coordinated by Federal Police delegate Alexandre Ramagem Rodrigues. Ramagem became security for @jairbolsonaro's family during the campaign, Head of ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), and later appointed Director-General of the Federal Police," the parliamentarian further points out. Check out the tweets and news report from Agência Brasil about Operation Cadeia Velha below:

The criminal scheme investigated by Operation Cadeia Velha led the state of Rio de Janeiro to fail to collect R$ 183 billion in taxes over a period of five years. The statement was made today (14), by the Federal Police delegate in charge of the operation, Alexandre Ramagem Rodrigues, at the headquarters of the Federal Police Superintendence in the state.

“The criminal collusion resulted in excessive tax benefits for certain companies and contractors, which led the state to fail to collect more than R$ 183 billion over a five-year period, causing the current collapse in the state's finances – with this devastating effect that this systemic corruption has had on public administration,” stated Ramagem Rodrigues.

The criminal scheme involved public officials from the Executive and Legislative branches (including the State Court of Auditors - TCE) and major businessmen from the state's construction and transportation sectors.

According to the regional superintendent of the Federal Police in Rio de Janeiro, Jairo Souza da Silva, today's operation is based on information gathered in previous operations throughout the year, such as Calicuti, Ponto Final, and Quinta do Ouro.

Information from the Federal Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office indicates that among the main beneficiaries of the scheme were the president of the Legislative Assembly of Rio (Alerj), Jorge Picciani, and state deputies Paulo Melo (former president of the House) and Edson Albertassi, nominated last week to fill a vacancy in the TCE – all from the PMDB party in Rio de Janeiro.

The superintendent of the Federal Police in the state said that, with the documentation already gathered by the two institutions, it is possible to conclude that the scheme to embezzle public funds did not have a main leader; its actions were diversified and on several fronts.

"Based on what has already been gathered, it is possible to conclude that there is no single leader, but rather a horizontal command structure within a large organized crime network in Rio de Janeiro, maintained by public officials from the Executive and Legislative branches, as well as major business figures, especially from the construction industry and Fetranspor [Federation of Passenger Transport Companies of the State of Rio de Janeiro]," stated the Federal Police superintendent.

Jairo Souza Silva assessed that the state of Rio “has been plundered by this group for over a decade, resulting in the moral and economic bankruptcy of the state: delayed salaries, hospitals in poor condition, a dilapidated police force with half its fleet out of service, and violence that agonizes us all every day.”

According to Ramagem Rodrigues, "the operation launched today revealed that the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Court of Auditors – bodies that presumably have a duty to be autonomous and independent and whose function is to oversee – were in reality structured as blatant criminal organizations with the purpose of guaranteeing the continuous misappropriation of public funds and money laundering."

Regional prosecutor Carlos Alberto Gomes de Aguiar stated that, through the payment of bribes to public officials, the businessmen involved aimed to obtain advantages in official acts. "Business sectors routinely paid bribes to political agents, not only in the Legislative branch, but also in the Executive branch and the State Audit Court itself, in exchange for official acts."

Meanwhile, according to Aguiar, through the strategic occupation of public bodies, the politicians involved "gained almost insurmountable political power and became frighteningly wealthy, while the state languished in the social chaos in which it finds itself."

The operation

Operation Cadeia Velha was launched this morning and involved agents from the Public Prosecutor's Office and approximately 150 federal police officers, by order of Federal Judge Abel Gomes, of the Regional Federal Court of the 2nd Region (TRF-2), rapporteur of the Lava Jato task force in Rio de Janeiro.

Coercive measures were carried out against Jorge Picciani and Paulo Melo, in addition to six preventive arrests and four temporary arrests, and 21 search and seizure operations.

Preventive arrest warrants were issued for Lélis Teixeira, former president of Fetranspor; Jacob Barata Filho, owner of 28 bus companies in Rio; and José Carlos Lavouras (who is a fugitive from justice), all investigated in Operation Ponto Final; as well as Jorge Luiz Ribeiro, Carlos Cesar da Costa Pereira, and Andreia Cardoso do Nascimento.

Those temporarily detained are Felipe Picciani (son of Jorge Picciani, imprisoned in Minas Gerais), Ana Claudia Jaccoub, Marcia Rocha Schalcher de Almeida, and Fabio Cardoso do Nascimento.

Jacob Barata Filho had already had his preventive detention ordered by Judge Marcelo Bretas, of the 7th Federal Criminal Court of Rio, responsible for the developments of Operation Lava Jato, in the first instance, and was even arrested. Subsequently, he benefited from a habeas corpus from a minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), on August 17th.

Beneficiaries

According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Police, Fetranspor's parallel accounting system moved approximately R$ 350 million in bribes between 2010 and 2016. A spreadsheet delivered by whistleblower Álvaro Novis indicates that Jorge Picciani and Paulo Melo are among the main beneficiaries and allegedly received R$ 49,96 million and R$ 38,62 million respectively from the Federation.

One of the accusations against the president of Alerj is that he used his company Agrobilara, in the agricultural sector and run by Felipe Picciani, to launder money. Agrobilara allegedly even outsourced money laundering operations to others involved in the bribery scheme, as well as to businessmen involved in the scheme.

"The chances of manipulation, the difficulties in establishing a fixed price not only for the cattle but also for the embryos being traded, and the obstacles to investigations made these operations one of the simplest ways to launder money. Added to these advantages are the low taxation and weak oversight in the sector," one of the prosecutors emphasized.

Other side

In a statement, Jorge Picciani said that his son's arrest was an act of cowardice aimed solely at him. "What happened to my son today is a cowardly act intended to target me. Felipe is an animal scientist, a good father, a good son, a good friend, who works tirelessly and has no political involvement. Everyone who knows him respects him and knows his character and integrity," he said.

In the statement, the president of Alerj (Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly) affirmed that his family has been working in the livestock business “for 33 years,” a field he entered even before being elected as a state representative. “Through hard work, we have become one of the leading references in high-quality genetics in the country. Thirty-three years is not thirty-three days.”

The president of Alerj also stated that the nomination of Deputy Edson Albertassi to join the TCE was made by Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, and that it occurred when the three auditors who were supposed to make the nomination decided not to compete, due to still being in their probationary period, which they considered to be a sign of legal uncertainty.

“In light of the court order, which requested 72 hours for clarification, I had already suspended the vote on the nomination, which was scheduled for today [14] in the plenary. Throughout my career I have never received any advantage in exchange for favors,” he stated.

The president of the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly (Alerj) also denied that the Assembly had favored the transportation sector. "The Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro does not act in service of special interest groups, does not interfere in fare increases (which are authorized by Agetransp [Regulatory Agency for Public Concession Services of Waterway, Railway, Metro and Road Transport of the State of Rio de Janeiro]), and did not vote for IPVA [Vehicle Property Tax] exemption for buses, because that was done by decree by the former governor (Sérgio Cabral, imprisoned in Benfica, in the northern zone of Rio on charges of corruption), when I didn't even have a mandate. Therefore, the accusations that have been disseminated are false," he assured.

In a statement, Jacob Barata Filho's defense said that it did not have access to the content of the decision that originated today's operation and, therefore, is unable to comment on it. "The defense will request the reinstatement of the measures ordered by the Second Panel of the Supreme Federal Court, which has already ruled that the businessman's preventive detention is unwarranted and can be replaced by precautionary measures, which have been faithfully complied with since then."

Fetranspor stated in a note that it "remains available to the authorities to provide the necessary clarifications for the investigations of Operation Cadeia Velha, launched today (14) by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Police".

Lélis Teixeira's defense stated that they "will only comment after examining the case files."