It plans to intensify the pace of operations regarding suspected irregularities in parliamentary amendments until the electoral period, which begins in the second half of the year.
Subject to reservations, there is an understanding in both the PF and the (Attorney General’s Office) that there is sufficient material under the scrutiny of investigators so that the actions, with the potential for strain on the relationship with the , occur frequently in the coming months.
The idea is to expand operations until the elections — and not during — to prevent the PF from being used on political issues. Since last year, different teams have been focusing on suspicions related to parliamentarians, which have already caused friction and fueled the crisis between the Legislature and the Judiciary.
Members of the PF state that they are not rushing investigations, but that the volume and robustness of the material under analysis already allows for an intensified pace. At the same time, they understand that the less the corporation triggers major actions in more sensitive political moments, such as , the better.
Ministers of the (Supreme Federal Court) estimate that at the beginning of last year, under the court’s supervision alone, there were at least 80 investigations related to irregularities in parliamentary amendments with suspicions directly related to federal deputies or senators. Court advisors estimate that this number must have increased from 2025 until now.
A significant part of the cases are reported by the minister, from the Supreme Court. This is because Dino assumed, upon being sworn into the STF in 2024, that they were declared unconstitutional by the court. These actions have been used for the minister to ensure transparency and regularity in the application of different types of amendments.
It was Dino, for example, who ordered the PF, last September, to carry out a fine-tooth comb over calls from politicians who have or had a mandate in Congress to decide whether to ask for the opening of new ones that investigate possible crimes of malfeasance.
One of the main operations under the minister’s responsibility is Transparency, which carried out search and seizure warrants in December last year, known as Tuca, an advisor linked to the former president of Arthur Lira (PP-AL).
There were even searches in the room where she worked inside the Chamber. , dozens of spreadsheets with data on parliamentary amendments were seized at addresses in Tuca, which are being analyzed by the PF.
Tuca’s defense has denied, from the beginning, that she committed irregularities.
But, in addition to Dino, other Supreme Court ministers have ordered searches and seizures and other measures in similar operations.
Last Thursday (29), the minister authorized search and seizure warrants involving federal deputy Eduardo Velloso (União Brasil-AC) related to suspected deviations in Pix amendments. There were searches of his functional apartment.
In a video published on social media, Velloso said that he has “nothing to do with the allocation of irregular amendments” and that the implementation of the resource is the responsibility of the municipality.
Another important operation is Overclean, which already has nine phases and . Reported by , it investigates suspicions of misappropriation of public resources resulting from parliamentary amendments and agreements.
The suspicions are that the scheme mainly affected Dnocs (National Department of Works Against Droughts), a body linked to the Ministry of National Integration, especially in Bahia.
Three federal deputies from Bahia: Felix Mendonça Jr. (PDT), Dal Barreto and Elmar Nascimento (both from União Brasil). Everyone denies wrongdoing.
In June last year, an operation authorized by the minister aimed to identify possible participation in the illicit allocation and execution of parliamentary amendments.
Four parliamentarians from Ceará were mentioned in the investigation that supported the police action: Júnior Mano (PSB), Yury do Paredão (MDB), Eunício Oliveira (MDB, who is the former president of ) and José Guimarães (PT-CE). All of them also denied being involved in any irregularities.
In parallel with investigations into amendments, there are other ongoing suspicions about misappropriation of resources by parliamentarians. One of them, reported by Dino, is the search and seizure warrants against federal deputies Sóstenes Cavalcante and Carlos Jordy, both from the Rio de Janeiro PL and allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
The objective was to deepen investigations into alleged deviations from parliamentary quotas. At the time, Sóstenes said he was the target of persecution because he was right-wing and Jordy called the action crude and denied the suspicions.
