The penthouse in which former governor Cláudio Castro (PL) has lived for a few weeks, in which he was targeted by the Federal Police this Tuesday, belongs to a company controlled by a former secretary of his government.
Former head of the Digital Transformation portfolio, lawyer Mauro Farias opened the CNPJ of J3 Real Estate Participações in April 2023 and, less than two months later, bought the property in the Península condominium, in the Southwest Zone of Rio, for R$ 3.5 million, according to documents collected at the notary’s office by the Globo.
According to the documentation, the deed of purchase of the apartment by J3 Real Estate was registered on June 16 of that year — two weeks after taxes were paid to transfer ownership of the property.
In addition to Mauro Farias, the company that bought the penthouse has as a partner the lawyer Ronaldo Tormenta Pereira, who is close to another former Castro secretary, Rafael Thompson de Farias — former head of the Government secretariat.
Mauro Farias did not respond to contact attempts. Lawyer Carlo Luchione, responsible for the former governor’s defense, said he did not know many details about Castro’s new home:
— I don’t know who the owner is, I just know that it is rented, that the other one was also and his contract has already been terminated. I don’t know any further details on this point.
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Castro also had Mauro’s brother as secretary, Rafael Thompson de Farias, who commanded the Government Secretariat. Together, they were partners in P5 Soluções, a company identified by the Public Electoral Ministry as an illicit recipient of resources from Castro’s campaign in 2022.
When asking for the disapproval of Castro’s accounts in the last election, the Electoral MP pointed out that one of the campaign’s suppliers allocated R$2.6 million to P5 Soluções, which investigators characterized as “malpractice in public expenditure linked to the electoral campaign (…) which, however, were used for other spurious and unproven purposes”.
According to the former governor’s defense, Castro moved to the penthouse this month. That’s why, in the first PF operation he was targeted in May, regarding suspicions at Refit, he was in another apartment in the same condominium, where he had lived in recent years.
On Tuesday, after the transaction, Luchione stated that the property is rented, but did not provide the rental contract. According to him, during the operation on the 15th, the former governor had already changed address, but still occupied the two properties.
— I had already moved before, I just hadn’t handed over the old one because there were still a lot of boxes there. The owner gave 30 days to vacate — said Luchione, who was unable to inform the rental value.
With a swimming pool, leisure area and more than 300 square meters, the penthouse is in the center of Península, which is surrounded by Lagoa da Tijuca. A consultation on a property rental platform shows that penthouses with a swimming pool in the same location cost between R$12,000 and R$30,000, with the monthly condominium fee varying between R$3,200 and R$6,200.
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During Mauro Farias’ management, the Digital Transformation portfolio received a robust budget. More than R$1 billion was allocated to the secretariat’s programs. He stepped down, upon request, in December 2024.
Castro was the target of a search and seizure warrant in the wake of the Master case. During his government, Rioprevidência contributed around R$3.7 billion to Daniel Vorcaro’s bank.
