Almost a decade after Geddel was convicted by the STF, the former minister sees his name mentioned in Operation Two Roses
The Public Ministry of Bahia is investigating former federal deputy Geddel Vieira Lima (MDB) on suspicion of receiving a bribe of R$1 million amid a plot that led to the escape of drug dealer Ednaldo Pereira de Souza, the “Dadá”, appointed as leader of the First Command of Eunápolis, a branch of the Red Command in the south of the State.
Dialogues recovered by prosecutors from the Extraction of the cell phones of two targets of Operation Two Roses reveals quotes from Geddel, called “boss” by the interlocutors – also former deputy Uldurico Júnior and former director of the Eunápolis prison Joneuma Silva Neres. She closed a plea bargain and confessed to her participation in the escape of “Dadá” and 15 other inmates on December 12, 2024.
Estadão seeks contact with Geddel and Uldurico Júnior. The space is open.
Operation Two Roses was launched on Thursday, the 16th. The name “Duas Rosas” refers to the estimated value of the undue advantage that would have been paid to Uldurico Júnior, who was arrested in a hotel in Praia do Forte. In conversations with Joneuma, he suggests that half of the R$2 million bribe to execute the faction leader’s escape plan would go to Geddel. The Public Prosecutor’s Office opened a Criminal Investigative Procedure (PIC) regarding Geddel’s alleged connection with Uldurico Júnior and whether he was actually the beneficiary of the sharing.
In September 2017, in Operation Lost Treasure, the Federal Police found R$51 million in cash in an apartment in the Graça neighborhoodin Salvador, rented by Geddel to “store documents”. Banknotes for reais (R$42.6 million) and dollars (US$2.7 million) were stored in suitcases, cardboard boxes and also scattered on the floor.
It took the feds three days to complete the counting of the fortune, which origin was never explained by the former minister of the Dilma and Temer governments. Two years later, formally accused of money laundering, Geddel was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the STF – the investigation revealed that the property was used by emedebista as a “bunker” to hide bribes. PF experts captured his fingerprints on the notes and suitcases.
‘The roses cry’
Now, almost a decade later, Geddel sees his name mentioned in Operation Two Roses. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, it was found that the expression “rose” was used in a coded way to refer to money, appearing in dialogues and negotiations under terms such as “the roses”, “when the roses will cry” or “the roses cry”, in reference to the payment of the negotiated values.
Prosecutors from Gaeco – a group that combats organized crime – point out that Joneuma, Uldurico Júnior’s political appointment to head the prison, allowed the granting of benefits to inmates members of the First Command of Eunápolis, led by “Dadá”.
Among the advantages granted to the “Dadá” group were identified unrestricted access to TVs, refrigerators and other appliances introduced into the unit, different meals, including hiring an acarajé baiana, use of sound equipment, intimate visits in the pavilions and free movement around the facilities, up to a wake.
During Joneuma’s year and a half in office, the former parliamentarian visited the prison on several occasions, whose tickets, at his request, were not recorded in his own books, during which he met privately with “Dadá”, according to prosecutors.
The Duas Rosas survey indicates that a The first installment of Comando Vermelho’s bribe to Uldurico Júnior – R$200,000 in cash – was delivered to the former deputy in a shoebox.
The delivery of this amount took place more than a month before the escape, on November 4th, when an emissary from “Dadá” handed the box to Joneuma “as an advance”. The next day, she went to the house of Uldurico Alves Pinto, Uldurico Júnior’s father, in the municipality of Teixeira de Freitas – R$150,000 were in the possession of Uldurico, the father.
The remaining R$50,000 was divided into a deposit of R$21,600 directly into Uldurico Júnior’s bank account and a Pix of R$ 24 thousand destined for an ally of the former deputy, according to receipts extracted from the employee’s cell phone.
Afterwards, Uldurico pressured the former director of the prison to hand over the rest of the money, claiming, on several occasions, that he had to pass it on to Geddel.
Cornered, Joneuma closed a plea bargain and spontaneously opened her cell phone data. In exchange for spending just one year in a closed regime and two more in a semi-open regime – then, at home, but “without the right to promote parties or any other social events at her residence” and under full-time personal electronic surveillance, through GPS tracking of her phone – she revealed how “Dadá’s” escape was engineered.
Joneuma stated that, eight days after the 16 detainees fled, he met with Uldurico Júnior in a hotel in Salvador. At the time, on December 20, 2024, according to her, the former deputy would have threatened her “if she said anything about the facts”.
Half for the ‘boss’
The whistleblower reported that Uldurico Júnior said that “half of the escape money would go to him, and half to the ‘boss’ (referring to Geddel Vieira Lima)”.
Joneuma reported that Uldurico Júnior forwarded messages supposedly sent by Geddel to her, collecting the money. She said that the messages exchanged with Uldurico Júnior on January 3, 2025, in which they talk about “crying roses”, referred to when the remaining amount agreed for the escape would be paid.
The escape plan predicted that only “Dadá” and his right-hand man “Sirlon” would leave prison on December 31, 2024. The dialogues show that Uldurico Júnior charged Joneuma via WhatsApp message and asked her why more inmates fled and on a different date than what had been scheduled. She attributed everything to “Dada”. “He did it out of evil, I was helping with everything. I didn’t know, from my heart.”
Uldurico sent Joneuma screenshots of alleged conversations with a contact saved under the name “Geddel”. “The content of the messages suggests that Uldurico was passing on to Geddel (understood to be Geddel Vieira Lima) distorted information about the escape, in an apparent attempt to attribute the authorship of the events to someone else and, thus, remove the responsibility of both for direct participation in the criminal event”, says the Prosecutor’s Office.
‘If I don’t, I’m dead’
At 9:09 pm on December 20, 2024, Uldurico Júnior sent Joneuma new screenshots of messages in image format In one of them, he mentioned: “What do you think? Rosa cries when? Tomorrow the boss wants to talk.”
“It should be noted, once again, that the term ‘crying roses’ means the payment of money, possibly arising from the corruption discussed here”, argue the prosecutors.
Afterwards, Uldurico Júnior sent another screenshot, supposedly of dialogue with a contact saved as “Geddel”. At another point, he sent new messages in image format. In one of them, he mentioned: “What do I say to the boss when he asks about the rose? He’s already crying in his head. I’m nervous. I don’t really know how to say it.” He also wrote: “If I don’t die, I’m dead. They’re aiming a bazooka at me.”
“The messages extracted from the collaborator’s cell phone reveal a pattern of systematic pressure exerted by Uldurico Júnior, who demanded payment of the remaining balance of the two million using the coded expression ‘weeping the roses’”, maintains the Prosecutor’s Office.
