Leader of the PDT in the Senate and former student leader, parliamentarian from Maranhão is investigated for alleged connection with a billion-dollar scheme of undue discounts on pensions
The target of search and seizure warrants this Thursday morning (18) by , Senator Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA) is one of the main leaders of his party in the National Congress. At 46 years old, the parliamentarian from Maranhão finds his name involved in yet another major investigation, this time under suspicion of being linked to a fraud scheme that may have embezzled more than R$6 billion.
Path to the Senate
Born in Imperatriz (MA), Weverton Rocha Marques de Sousa began his public life in the student movement. Affiliated with the PDT since his adolescence, he presided over the Municipal Union of Secondary Students (UMES) and became vice-president of the National Union of Students (UNE).
His entry into institutional politics gained strength during the government of Jackson Lago (former governor of , who died in 2011), when he assumed the state’s Department of Sports and Youth in 2007. Management in the department, however, would lead to legal headaches years later.
Weverton was elected federal deputy in 2010 (taking over as a substitute and then as a member) and re-elected in 2014. In 2014, he gained prominence for his party loyalty and ability to articulate, becoming leader of the PDT bench. In 2018, he was elected senator with a significant vote, consolidating himself as a “strong man” of the party, very close to , national president of the party and current Minister of Social Security.
History of controversies
This Thursday’s operation is not Weverton’s first clash with the courts. The senator accumulates mentions in other inquiries:
– Case of the Costa Rodrigues Gymnasium: Weverton responded to accusations of embezzlement and bid fraud relating to the time he was Secretary of Sports. The Public Prosecutor’s Office pointed out irregularities in the renovation of the gymnasium in São Luís. The case was processed before the STF, but was referred to the first instance when the understanding regarding privileged jurisdiction changed;
Amendments and Codevasf: Recent reports pointed out that the senator allocated millions in parliamentary amendments to companies investigated by the PF in Operation Odoacro, which investigates fraud at Codevasf. The construction companies that benefited would have links with suspicious financial operators;
Election investigation: The parliamentarian has also been the target of a confidential PF investigation investigating alleged omission of expenses and appropriation of resources in the 2018 campaign;
No Discount Operation
In this farm’s operation, . Weverton’s proximity to the leadership of the Ministry of Social Security — whose executive secretary was also targeted — is one of the investigators’ lines of investigation.
