Operation highlights R$56 million scheme involving politicians in Maranhão

The investigation that led to the arrest of the mayor of Turilândia, in Maranhão, exposed a large-scale corruption scheme installed within the structure of the municipal public power.

In a decision by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Maranhão Court of Justice, the judges detail how a structured criminal organization acted continuously between 2021 and 2025 to divert public resources, especially from the areas of Health and Social Assistance.

The case resulted in the launch of Operation Tântalo II, conducted by the Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco) of the Public Ministry of Maranhão. The action, carried out last Monday (22), culminated in the preventive arrest of mayor Paulo Curió (União Brasil) and vice-mayor Tânia Mendes, in addition to the advancement of investigations into businesspeople, public servants and city councilors.

According to the MP-MA, the group had embezzled more than R$56 million through fraudulent contracts and companies created in a fictitious manner. The investigation points to signs of a criminal organization, bid fraud, active and passive corruption, embezzlement and money laundering.

Part of the resources returned to the political core of the scheme through the issuance of invoices without the actual provision of services.

Scheme structure and role of the mayor

According to the investigation, Paulo Curió occupied a central position in the criminal organization. As an expense organizer, he would have directed bids and authorized payments with public resources even without proof of execution of the contracts. The Public Ministry maintains that the mayor was one of the main final recipients of the embezzled money.

The court decision describes the recurring practice of the so-called “sale of invoices”, in which companies hired by the municipality issued simulated tax documents and returned most of the amounts to the organization’s political core. The scheme operated in a hierarchical manner, with a clear division of tasks between public agents, businesspeople and financial operators.

In addition to the mayor, vice-mayor Tânia Karla Cardoso Mendes Mendonça appears as a member of the operational and business core. According to the records, she maintained links with companies used in the scheme and participated in the movement of diverted resources, helping to give the appearance of legality to the hiring.

Business core and resource retention

Another name highlighted as a key player is that of former vice-mayor Janaina Soares Lima. According to the MP-MA, it exercised de facto control over Posto Turi, the company that received the most resources from the city hall. The post accumulated R$17.2 million in public contracts, according to the investigation.

Janaina acted as the company’s attorney while holding a political position and, according to intercepted conversations, treated the retention of part of the amounts as an internal “tax” of the scheme. She and her husband, Marlon Zerrão, reportedly signed an agreement to retain 10% of the contracts, intended to pay for the former deputy mayor’s medical school, while the remaining 90% was passed on to the mayor or people appointed by him.

The investigation indicates that other companies were also used to simulate the provision of services and feed the scheme, including Luminer Serviços, Climatech Refrigeração, SP Freitas Júnior, JEC Empreendimentos and Potencial Empreendimentos. All, according to the MP, issued invoices without real consideration.

City Council and financial operator

The investigation also reached the Turilândia City Council. According to the court decision, councilors would have been politically co-opted, received periodic payments and omitted their oversight duties in exchange for supporting the mayor. In total, 20 councilors and one former councilor are being investigated. Five parliamentarians remain at large.

The Public Ministry points out that the misappropriated amounts were not limited to enriching the mayor and his family, but were also distributed among parliamentarians. The court authorized searches of the offices to seize documents, financial records and communications.

In the financial core, Wandson Jonath Barros is described as the main operator of the scheme. According to the records, he managed the circulation of money, distributed bribes, created shell companies and used oranges. For his service, he received around 3% on fraudulent contracts and acted as the mayor’s right-hand man in the logistics of diversions.

Arrests and developments

After the operation, Paulo Curió and Tânia Mendes were sent to the Pedrinhas Prison Resocialization Unit, in São Luís, where they are serving preventive detention. The investigated councilors had their arrests converted into precautionary measures, such as house arrest or the use of electronic ankle bracelets.

According to prosecutor Fernando Berniz, from Gaeco, the decision took into account the need not to completely paralyze the municipal administration, since the president of the Chamber will need to take over the city hall on an interim basis. The investigations are ongoing, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the full extent of the damage to public coffers and the individual responsibility of those involved.