This Tuesday (30), the Federal Police carried out a search and seizure in an investigation against former deputy Washington Reis (MDB) and his sister, Jane Reis (MDB), pre-candidate for (), former mayor of .
The action is the second phase of Operation Anáfara, when Washington Reis was a candidate for vice-governor on the ticket of Cláudio Castro (PL). He later gave up the position, due to legal impediments to running.
HAS SheetWashington Reis said that he has already presented documents to the PF to demonstrate the absence of illegality in the acts investigated. “We took notes, we clarified everything. It’s an irrelevant business of value.”
Jane Reis is a lawyer and was appointed by Washington to join Paes’ ticket. The family, an ally of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), controls the politics of Duque de Caxias, the state’s second electoral college, and is seen as an asset to assist the former mayor’s campaign in Baixada Fluminense.
According to the PF, “it was found that those investigated maintained their own assets in the name of third parties, incurred expenses incompatible with their financial condition and participated in “. The investigation investigates the crimes of criminal organization, bid fraud and money laundering.
14 search and seizure warrants were issued, 10 by the 6th Federal Criminal Court and four by the TRF-2 (Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region), as the investigation referred to the period in which Washington Reis was state secretary.
The targets are divided into two cores. One of them is Laticínio Vale Carioca, identified in the investigation as one of the companies used in the former deputy’s money laundering. He denies owning the company.
The other nucleus is made up of names linked to businessman Mario Peixoto. In a statement, lawyer Alexandre Lopes, who represents the businessman, stated that “the operation is inexplicable from a legal point of view”.
“Facts that occurred in 2020 cannot give rise to decisions on precautionary measures in 2026. Even without having read the court decision, for that reason alone, I can say that it is absolutely illegal,” stated Lopes.
Jane Reis was not the target of search and seizure. However, the PF is investigating its role as the operational arm of WR Participações, a family company that owns hundreds of properties in the state. The suspicion is that the firm is used in money laundering.
Washington Reis stated that WR Participações has been in existence for over 18 years and has never committed any illegality.
“We never did any cash transactions,” he said.
In 2022, the Sheet revealed real estate operations by WR Participações considered suspected of money laundering, according to Coaf criteria.
In September 2013, the former deputy’s company purchased land in Duque de Caxias for R$120,000. Seven months later, the firm resold it for R$1.3 million, guaranteeing a profit of 983%.
In addition to the sudden appreciation, attention is drawn to the fact that the same property was valued at R$994,000 by the state government in 2011 in an expropriation process, which was later archived. The amount is eight times the amount paid by WR two years later.
At the time, the former deputy stated that it was possible to make a profit in real estate transactions.
“Anyone who knows the real estate market knows that this type of transaction is possible, and, for this to happen, it is necessary to know the region well, property prices and have great negotiation skills, requirements that everyone who knows me knows I have, as I never buy anything that is above the market price and I have always known how to see existing opportunities”, the former deputy said at the time.
