“Tiktoker Mayor” is accused by the PF of heading a corruption scheme in Sorocaba

The Federal Police points out that the removed mayor of Sorocaba (SP), Rodrigo Manga (Republicanos), known on social media as the “tiktoker mayor”, ran a corruption and money laundering scheme linked to public contracts.

The report that supported his 180-day absence describes Manga as head of a criminal organization structured within the municipal administration.

According to the document, obtained by G1 and the TV HASthe group would have used shell companies, fictitious contracts and close family members to move funds of illicit origin since the beginning of its mandate, in January 2021.

The investigations are part of Operation Copy and Paste, which reached its second phase last week and has already resulted in the arrest of businesspeople and political allies.

“The investigated Rodrigo Manga is the leader of the criminal group and the main beneficiary of the criminal practices in progress”, states the PF report.

Diversion of resources

The scheme operated through 2M Comunicação e Assessoria, a company registered in the name of the mayor’s wife, Sirlange Rodrigues Frate. The company signed simulated advertising contracts with companies and religious entities controlled by Manga’s allies, such as Sim Park Estajamento Eireli, owned by businessman Marco Silva Motta, and the Igreja Cruzada dos Milagres dos Filhos de Deus, managed by the mayor’s brother-in-law, Josivaldo de Souza.

According to investigators, these contracts were “legal fictions” used to mask illegal transfers and reinsert the diverted money into the formal economy. With these two partners alone, the amount handled exceeds R$1.2 million.

Health contracts

The PF also identified direct interference by Manga in emergency contracts in the health sector, such as the contracts of the former Aceni to manage the UPA of Éden and the UPH of the West Zone.

Intercepted conversations show that the mayor pressured civil servants and secretaries to speed up signatures and releases of funds.

Furthermore, the report mentions the acquisition of properties with partial payments in kind, a practice used to hide the origin of illicit resources. Part of the money would have been intermediated by allies who acted as financial operators for the group.

Understand the case

Operation Copy and Paste, conducted by the Federal Police, investigates a scheme of corruption, money laundering and targeting of public contracts within Sorocaba City Hall.

The case began to be investigated after the identification of atypical payments to companies and religious entities linked to family members and advisors of Mayor Rodrigo Manga.

The PF believes that the group used false contracts to simulate the provision of communication and advertising services, converting diverted resources into apparently legal transfers.

Manga’s removal was ordered by the Federal Court at the request of the PF, which argued that his remaining in office could compromise the investigations.

Defenses deny irregularities

Rodrigo Manga’s defense classified the PF investigation as “null and conducted by an incompetent authority”. Sirlange Frate stated that all financial transactions were legal and duly declared.

The lawyers for the others under investigation, including Josivaldo de Souza and Marco Mott, also deny involvement in any scheme and say they collaborate with the authorities.

Sorocaba City Hall reported that it had not been officially notified and that the legal sector is awaiting access to the process to adopt measures.