The PF () carried out search and seizure warrants this Monday (8) against judge Dirceu dos Santos, from the Court of Justice of , and state deputy Faissal Calil (). The operation, authorized by the (Superior Court of Justice), investigates an alleged scheme.
This second operation is not an isolated case. Since the 2000s, Brazil has seen a succession of major federal investigations that exposed the sale of decisions at the top of the Judiciary.
The judicial decision should be a strictly technical act and based on the laws. However, the high economic and political impact stimulates an illegal market. Remember other investigations:
Operation Sisamnes – 2026
The (Attorney General’s Office) presented to the STF, on May 27, the first complaint of Operation Sisamnes. The complaint accuses nine people, including the lobbyist, former civil servants and lawyers, for operating a counter selling draft votes and leaking data at the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) from 2019 to 2023. The case, reported by the minister, began to be investigated after the murder of lawyer Roberto Zampieri in Cuiabá.
Operation Inauditus – 2026
On April 1, the PF launched 25 search warrants. The action preventively arrested former advisor Lúcio Fernando Penha Ferreira, identified as the financial operator who coordinated the sale of decisions and manipulation in the distribution of processes at the TJ-MA. The action determined the immediate removal of judges Antônio Pacheco Guerreiro Júnior and Luiz de França Belchior Silva on suspicion of corruption and criminal organization. The PF seized a helicopter, jewelry and luxury cars valued at R$13 million. R$50 million worth of assets belonging to those being investigated were blocked.
Operation Ultima Ratio – 2024
The PF pointed out suspicions of corruption against TJ-MS judges, and five of them were removed by the STJ in 2024. The former president of the court resumed his position by order of STF minister Cristiano Zanin.
Operation 18 Minutes – 2024
Launched in August 2024, the operation resulted in the indictment of judges Nelma Sarney, Guerreiro Júnior and Luiz Gonzaga, as well as two judges. The suspicion was of manipulation of court processes, with the aim of obtaining financial advantage, and of fraud in court decisions to divert resources from Banco do Nordeste.
Operation Faroeste – 2019
The , launched in 2019, affected 12 judges and 12 first instance judges of the Bahia Court. The case is being processed at the STJ and recorded the first plea bargain by a magistrate in history, made by judge Sandra Inês Rusciolelli.
The case deals with the sale of court decisions related to a land grabbing scheme and land dispute in western Bahia. In May 2026, the Special Court of the STJ of the MPF in the case.
Operation Expresso 150 – 2015
Also known as Operation Duty, the action was launched by the PF in June 2015 to investigate a trade in release permits at the TJ-CE aimed at releasing criminals. The scheme was operated by lawyers and intermediaries who purchased the injunctions for the standard value of R$150,000 during weekend shifts, which resulted in the compulsory retirement of the judges involved. In 2024, the MP-CE filed an appeal with the TJ-CE against the first instance sentence, asking for a lawyer.
Operation Asafe – 2010
The PF launched it in May 2010. The action involved a network of lawyers, lobbyists and magistrates suspected of rigging trials and selling decisions at the Court of Justice and the TRE-MT (Regional Electoral Court of Mato Grosso). The objective would be to influence litigation and keep mayors in office. In November 2015, judge Evandro Stábile, former president of TRE-MT, received a closed regime sentence for charging bribes to maintain the mandate of the then mayor of Alto Paraguai (MT). The applied mandatory retirement punishments to others involved.
Operation Shipwreck – 2008
The 2008 investigation uncovered a network at the TJ-ES (Court of Justice of Espírito Santo). The case only received a complaint from the STJ in 2021. In the trial on the merits, with the highest sentence applied to lawyer Paulo Guerra Duque, with 21 years in prison.
Operation Themis – 2007
The PF launched it in April 2007 to investigate the sale of decisions in the Federal Court in São Paulo aimed at tax fraud. The action took place after the denunciation of financial operator Lúcio Funaro, who stated that the group charged bribes of up to R$300,000 to free companies from million-dollar debts. Despite targeting three second instance judges from the TRF-3 (Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region), the STJ rejected the complaint due to lack of evidence, resulting only in the compulsory retirement of judge Maria Cristina Barongeno.
Operation Hurricane – 2007
Launched in April 2007, it investigated an organization suspected of selling injunctions to shield and bingos on . The scandal reached the top of the Judiciary and Rio de Janeiro. Among those accused were judges, heads of samba schools, and STJ minister Paulo Medina, accused of negotiating an injunction for R$1 million. Medina was compulsorily retired in 2010.
Operation Anaconda – 2003
Launched in October 2003, it targeted a “business counter” in the Federal Court in . Appointed as the mastermind of the scheme, the then federal judge was fired and sentenced to 30 years in prison for passive corruption and conspiracy. He went to the open regime in 2011 and died at the age of 74, in September 2022.
