Breach of confidentiality by MA deputy reveals “mismatch” and R$ 4.7 million in properties on the plant
Suspected of operating a broad money laundering scheme and moving millionaire amounts with ‘atypical characteristics’ in the Public Ministry’s assessment, the vice-governor of Maranhão, Felipe Camarão (PT), has purchased R$4.7 million in off-plan properties since January 2022. The PT member’s real estate activity reveals, in the Attorney’s Office’s view, “the existence of significantly high real estate assets and out of step with the monthly income” of his position in the Executive.
THE Estadão requested a statement from Felipe Camarão, subject of a request for immediate removal presented by the Public Ministry and forwarded to the State Court of Justice.
On the networks, the PT member stated that ‘what is underway is not a legitimate investigation, but a targeted leak with electoral objectives, outside of legality’.
The Attorney General of Maranhão, Danilo José de Castro Ferreira, who supports the investigation, points out that “no references to the properties on the plan were identified in Felipe Camarão’s annual Personal Income Tax adjustment declarations, which reflects an evident lack of conformity between the assets in constitution and the tax records presented”.
“The most sensitive aspect, however, emerges from the comparison of these payments with the data obtained when Felipe Camarão’s tax secrecy was removed. The DIMOB (Declaration of Information on Real Estate Activities) includes the signing of contracts for the acquisition of off-plan properties which, together, amount to R$ 4,777,130.99”, details the investigation.
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Felipe Camarão is closely linked to President Lula and Minister Flávio Dino, of the Federal Supreme Court. A career federal attorney at the Attorney General’s Office, the PT member is considered Dino’s ‘political heir’.
He was Secretary of Education, Culture and Government during Dino’s two terms as governor of Maranhão.
Camarão is the party’s only vice-president in the country and is a pre-candidate to succeed the current governor, Carlos Brandão, who is expected to seek a seat in the Senate in October.
After the investigation was leaked, Camarão received support and solidarity from allies and friends on social media. Governor Brandão did not make any statement about what happened.
The deputy governor’s breach of banking secrecy revealed 19 financial transactions for real estate projects, worth R$503 thousand.
“The target legal entities are Specific Purpose Companies (SPEs), a structure usually used in the real estate sector for the management of specific projects and which, in the context of the case, suggests a link with projects located in the Peninsula region, in São Luís/MA”, explains the attorney.
“It should also be noted that DIMOB does not indicate a contract in the name of FELIPE COSTA CAMARÃO related to the SPE DOM RICARDO EMPREENDIMENTOS IMOBILIÁRIOS LTDA. project, despite the existence of payments linked to such a legal entity in the banking flow examined”, narrates the investigation.
PMs involved
In addition to Camarão, the MP calls for the removal of lieutenant colonel Thiago Arruda Brasil, and military police officer Alexandre Guimarães Nascimento – both stationed in the Military Office of the Palácio dos Leões, headquarters of the Executive.
The report seeks contact with the defense of the PMs. The space is open.
In the assessment of the Prosecutor’s Office, which has been investigating the vice-governor for a year, “the evidence reveals million-dollar movements carried out by third parties, structured in operations of fractionation, dissimulation and concealment that require immediate state intervention”.
The document points out that the money that circulated in the vice’s account is not salary, but comes from ‘income of another nature’.
The criminal flow, according to the prosecutor, “included transfers and payments for the benefit of Camarão and members of his family, without, at least for now, a suitable business relationship capable of providing legal support for such operations having been identified”.
