Amidst the struggle between Congress and the Federal Supreme Court (STF) over the transparency of the Budget indicated by deputies and senators, the First Panel of the Court begins to judge this Tuesday (10) the complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office against federal deputies Josimar Maranhãozinho (PL-MA) and Pastor Gil (PL-MA), as well as former deputy Bosco Costa (PL-SE), accused of being part of a criminal scheme related to the allocation of R$6.67 million in parliamentary amendments. It will be the first trial in the Court on deviations from amendments to the secret budget, a scheme revealed by the Estadão.
According to the accusation, in 2020, they asked the then mayor of São José de Ribamar (MA), José Eudes, to pay R$1.6 million – equivalent to 25% of the value of the amendments – as a bribe.
Parliamentarians deny irregularities related to the amendments and, at the time of filing the complaint, asked for the action to be closed due to lack of evidence.
The PGR’s indictment, which charged the defendants with crimes of criminal organization and passive corruption, was received by the First Panel of the Supreme Court in March 2025. For the Public Ministry, “the central nucleus of the organization was made up of deputies Josimar, Pastor Gil and Bosco Costa, responsible for sending the amendments”, with Josimar “holding a leadership position and, in this capacity, coordinating the allocation of resources sponsored by the other congressmen”.
Also responding to the case is João Batista Magalhães, a parliamentary advisor and lobbyist accused of monitoring the release of amendments and recruiting mayors for the scheme; Thalles Andrade Costa, son of Bosco Costa, and appointed as responsible for mediating the negotiation of amendments linked to his father; Antônio José Silva Rocha, former mayor of Água Doce do Maranhão, accused of assisting in soliciting bribes from the then mayor of São José de Ribamar, José Eudes; in addition to advisors Adones Nunes Martins and Abraão Nunes Martins Neto, identified as participants in the attempts to request bribes from the mayor, acting in collecting the amounts on behalf of the group.
Trial schedule
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For the trial, the First Panel reserved three sessions. The first is scheduled for 9am this Tuesday, the second for 2pm and, if necessary, a third session could take place at 9am on Wednesday (11).
After the opening of the session by the President of the Panel, Flávio Dino, the case will be called to trial and the rapporteur of the criminal action, Minister Cristiano Zanin, will read the report, with a summary of the case, the procedural history, the allegations of the prosecution and defenses, as well as the crimes charged.
Then, the deputy attorney general of the Republic, Paulo Vasconcelos Jacobina, will have 60 minutes to speak on behalf of the PGR, a period that can be extended due to the number of defendants. Afterwards, defense lawyers will have up to one hour each for oral arguments.
Once the arguments are complete, voting will begin. After the rapporteur’s vote, ministers Alexandre de Moraes, Cármen Lúcia and Flávio Dino spoke.
The investigations began following a crime report presented by former mayor José Eudes. He denied participation in any negotiations involving parliamentary amendments and reported charges and intimidation that had been made by members of the group.
PGR wants conviction and loss of mandates
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The Prosecutor’s Office states that the evidence is “irrefutable” and that the authorship and materiality of the crimes are proven by dialogues and documents obtained in the investigation.
“Although deputies Josimar and Bosco Costa denied authorship of the amendments, taking advantage of the low transparency of public data on the origin of these resources, the evidence confirms that they are responsible for the allocations”, says the PGR.
In addition to the conviction, the PGR requests the loss of mandates and the payment of compensation for collective moral damages.
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