The Federal Police investigate the sending of an amendment by senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), pre-candidate for the Presidency, to a non-governmental organization (NGO) suspected of having links with the brothers Chiquinho and Domingos Brazão, convicted of the murder of councilor Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes. The transfer, carried out in November 2023, took place a month after the parliamentarian’s office was contacted by a then advisor to Domingos at the Rio State Court of Auditors (TCE-RJ). Investigators want to know whether the transfer was part of a scheme to embezzle public funds led by the Brazão family group.
The amendment, worth R$ 199 thousand, was destined for the José Carlos Procópio Professional Training Institute (Ifop), located in a commercial room in the Taquara neighborhood, in the West Zone of Rio, the Brazão’s area of influence. The person who mediated the shipment, according to the PF, was reserve military police officer Robson Calixto Fonseca, known as “Peixe”, also convicted of criminal organization for Marielle’s death. He is identified in the investigations as being responsible for working behind the scenes in the “defense of spurious interests” of the group led by Domingos, at the time a TCE-RJ advisor, and Chiquinho, an impeached federal deputy.
When contacted, Flávio stated, through his consultancy, that it is not the parliamentarian’s role to audit how his amendments are used by third parties. When questioned, the NGO reported that it did not have “any formal or informal relationship” with Peixe or the Brazão brothers and that the resources were duly applied to a project that offered football classes for children. The defense of the Brazão brothers and the former TCE-RJ advisor were also questioned about the amendment and did not respond.
The PF began investigating the scheme of embezzlement of public funds through NGOs after breaking Peixe’s telephone confidentiality in the investigation investigating Marielle’s death. When analyzing the messages exchanged by the then TCE-RJ advisor, the investigators identified that Peixe acted as an intermediary in the capture of resources for entities linked to the group, in order to raise “assets potentially incompatible with their legal sources of income”, according to the investigation report.
The investigation describes that it was up to Peixe to contact deputies and senators so that they could direct resources to the entities he indicated. The researchers point out that these organizations received R$268 million through payments from parliamentarians between 2020 and 2024.
After parliamentarians indicated the amendments, the resources were released by ministries and, subsequently, members of the entities were asked to pay expenses related to the Brazão group, according to the investigation. The PF describes, for example, messages in which Peixe asks the representative of one of the NGOs benefiting from federal funds to purchase 20 bicycles in December 2023, in addition to providing a helicopter.
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The investigators highlight that, two weeks later, on December 17 of that year, Chiquinho Brazão participated in an event, in the neighborhood of Jacarepaguá, in the West Zone of Rio, to promote the candidacy of a nephew for the Rio City Council. On that occasion, gifts were distributed, including bicycles.
In another section, the PF points out that Peixe also asked the NGO representative to deposit R$100,000 into the account of a company whose only partner is his daughter. Transfer receipts were sent to your cell phone number.
In the case of Flávio’s amendment, the PF identified an exchange of messages between Peixe and an advisor from the senator’s office on October 24, 2023. Data from the federal government’s payment systems show that, just over a month later, on November 29, 2023, the entity received R$199,000 allocated by the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Created in 2008, Ifop claims to develop social projects in the areas of sport, social and education. In 2023, the entity was honored at the Rio City Council by then councilor Waldir Brazão (União), who granted the institute a title of public utility. In addition to the resources sent by Flávio, the entity received another amendment in August 2024, this time for R$1.5 million, allocated by Chiquinho Brazão, when he was still serving as deputy.
Flávio stated that the objective of the amendment was “to support a project aimed at children in vulnerable situations, guaranteeing access to sporting activities and social inclusion”. “Reports, videos and photographs presented suggest that Ifop’s work was a success”, says the note. The NGO says it sent the accounts to the government and even returned part of the resources that were not used. “The accounts were sent to the Ministry of Sports, including the return of excess resources”, says the entity, in a note.
The accounts presented by Ifop indicate that part of the money was directed to a company in the name of the director of another NGO which, according to the PF, was also supplied with resources from amendments raised by the Brazão advisor. In addition, the entity made payments to a consultancy company based in Águas Claras, administrative region of Brasília, registered at an address where a beauty salon currently operates.
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The PF identified that, a year after Flávio’s first transfer to Ifop, Peixe went back to the senator’s advisor asking for more money. On November 6, 2024, he requested that “the senator grace the institute so that the project does not end”, as highlighted by the PF report. But there is no record that the funds were transferred.
The dialogues between Peixe and Flávio’s advisor go beyond the request for amendments. In one of the conversations, in February 2024, the senator’s assistant asked him for four tickets to watch the champions’ parade at the Rio Sambadrome, which, according to the PF, was granted.
Before being an advisor at TCE-RJ, Peixe was assigned to Domingos Brazão’s office at the Legislative Assembly of Rio (Alerj). According to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), in the Marielle case, he “functioned as an intermediary in the connections between the perpetrators of the crimes and their respective principals”, referring to the deaths of the councilor and her driver.
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