The one from the State of Maranhão requested the removal from office of vice-governor Felipe Camarão () on suspicion of connection with a money laundering scheme, atypical financial transactions and crimes against public administration.
The request for suspension of the vice-governor’s public service, revealed and confirmed by the Sheetwas forwarded to the Maranhão Court of Justice by the Attorney General, Danilo José de Castro Ferreira.
In a statement, Felipe Camarão criticized the leak of the investigation, said he never had access to the process and highlighted that he does not accept “political persecution disguised as institutional action”.
The investigation by the Public Ministry indicates that the vice-governor had used relatives and military police officers from his security detail to raise R$6.3 million, in addition to another R$4.7 million invested in luxury properties in .
The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that Camarão would have benefited from a network of oranges to hide million-dollar transfers. The amounts transferred do not originate from salary and would be incompatible with the income declared by the vice-governor.
The request for removal occurs on the eve of the deadline for disqualifying positions, which ends on April 4th. Camarão’s withdrawal from (no party) to run for the Senate.
Having broken with his vice president, the governor has said that he will remain in government until the end of his term and has launched his nephew, Orleans Brandão (), as a candidate for governor.
Camarão is a remnant of the political group of , former governor and now minister of the (Supreme Federal Court). In 2022, he had sealed an agreement with the governor in which he would run for his succession, but both fell apart during the term.
The lieutenant governor classified the investigation as an action of “selective exposure and public embarrassment”. He also cited the attorney general’s alleged proximity to Marcus Brandão, the governor’s brother, father of Orleans Brandão and an influential figure behind the scenes in the government.
“My 25-year-old unblemished public record will not be tarnished by this type of practice. Maranhão cannot go back to a time when institutions were set up for the purpose of political pressure,” he stated.
Carlos Brandão was Flávio Dino’s deputy, took office in April 2022 and was re-elected in October of that year. Throughout the term, however, Brandão and Dino grew apart.
Upon being appointed minister of the STF, the former governor, who was in the PSB, had to move away from party politics, but his allies remained a relatively cohesive group. Some of them started to oppose and compete for space with Brandão’s group.
The split split the base of the state. The president accelerated negotiations to form his platform in Maranhão, but the effort was overrun by a movement in local politics.
The PT in the state is divided between supporting Felipe Camarão, Orleans Brandão or a possible candidacy of the mayor of São Luís, Eduardo Braide (PSD).
