Anonymous complaint put the PF after deputy Antônio Doido’s advisor arrested with R$ 1 million

An anonymous complaint placed parliamentary advisor Jacob Aarão Serruya Neto, a servant in the office of deputy Antônio Leocádio dos Santos, better known as Antônio Doido (MDB-PA), in the sights of the Federal Police (PF). He was exonerated after the suspicions became public.

Estadão asked for a statement from the deputy and is seeking contact with the advisor’s defense, which had not occurred until the publication of this text.

The informant alerted the authorities about a huge withdrawal – more than R$1 million – from the account of the company AC da Silva Comércio de Gêneros that was scheduled to take place on January 17th, at the Banco do Brasil branch on Senador Lemos street, in Belém, to cover bribes to public servants.

Federal police officers in plainclothes followed the trail and, on the day reported, set up a campaign in front of the bank. They discovered that commercial representative Wandson de Paula Silva received the money in a private room at the agency and stored the amount in a black backpack.

The agents followed Silva’s car, a white Hilux, after he left the bank. They saw the moment when the sales representative parked the vehicle and boarded another car, a black Corolla, with the backpack of money – R$200 bills packed in plastic bags – containing R$1 million. It was at that moment that the PF announced the incident. When inspecting the cars, the federal officers found another R$100,000 in the Hilux’s glove compartment.

Serruya and Silva were taken to the Federal Police superintendence in Belém. Both remained silent in their statements. The report requested a defense position from the commercial representative, which had not occurred until the publication of this text.

The PF is now seeking to identify the recipients of the money. To do this, he requested authorization to access conversations on the seized cell phones with the parliamentary advisor and the commercial representative. The expectation is that the messages will lead to new suspects.

Serruya and Silva obtained authorization to await the conclusion of the investigations in freedom. The judge on duty Thatiana Cristina Nunes Campelo considered that there was no need to keep them in prison, as long as they paid R$40,000 in bail each. The decision states that they have a fixed address, legal occupation, have not committed violent crimes and have no criminal record.

“I do not see in concrete the need for precautionary segregation of those detained in order to protect public order, economic order, the convenience of procedural investigation or even to ensure the application of criminal law,” he wrote.

The judge also established precautionary measures, such as periodic attendance at the forum and the prohibition of being absent from Belém. According to the judge, “considering the modus operandi employed, that is, possession and withdrawal of a large amount in kind, typical of the practice of the phase of concealment of financial assets characteristic of conduct classified as a crime of money laundering, as well as the possible involvement of a federal public servant who is part of the Chamber of Deputies”, there is evidence of crimes of corruption and money laundering.

Jacob Aarão Serruya Neto was appointed to the commissioned position of parliamentary secretary in the office of deputy Antônio Doido in April 2023. The civil servant was dismissed two days after the PF arrest. Serruya also worked at the Pará Court of Auditors between 2007 and 2010.

Created in 2020, AC da Silva Comércio de Gêneros won 33 municipal tenders in Pará. A survey carried out by the PF shows that the majority of contracts were funded with federal resources – more than R$24 million. Investigators suspect that the CNPJ was registered in the name of an orange person. The company was contacted by Estadão.

As Estadão showed, Antônio Doido is among the deputies who most directed parliamentary amendments in 2024. He managed to send R$37.8 million to several city halls in Pará.