Companies linked to the state deputy (), the Government of Rio de Janeiro, carried out a series of real estate transactions and court orders in the last three years. The assets acquired are valued, according to deeds, at more than R$15 million.
The transactions began in January 2023, when Ruas had been elected with the second highest vote in the state. They intensified after September of the same year, when he took over the management of the Secretariat of Cities (PL).
Initially, the purchases were made by a construction company in which Douglas holds 90% of the company — Saur Construção, Terraplanagem e Locação Ltda. Since last year, the acquisition of court orders began to be carried out by the firm in the name of his wife, Mariana Barbosa.
In a statement, the deputy said that his company has “solid operations in the logistics market”. He declared that, from 2023, “he began to operate in the real estate market and in the acquisition of financial assets, including court orders”. He also said that the woman “has been working in the retail industry for ten years.”
In his first elected term, Douglas went to senator (PL-RJ), pre-candidate for President, in Rio de Janeiro. It gained strength due to the articulation with mayors from the interior acquired during the Castro administration.
The deputy came to be after the impeachment of (União Brasil) by the (Superior Electoral Court), but the choice was annulled by the courts. He must be a candidate to command both the House and the .
Research carried out in registry offices by Sheet shows that the company Saur had not made any real estate acquisition since 2011, when it was created, until 2022.
During this period, he became a civil police officer, in 2013, and began his career in political positions from 2017. From 2021 to 2022, he was municipal secretary of Integrated Management and Special Projects of São Gonçalo during the beginning of his father’s term in the city, Mayor Captain Nelson (PL).
In January 2023, Saur purchased land in Ipiíba, São Gonçalo neighborhood, in partnership with Normandia Empreendimentos e Participações, owned by federal deputy Altinêu Cortes (PL), vice-president of the Chamber and ally of Douglas. The operation, concluded in August with another purchase, cost R$1 million. In March of the same year, another property was purchased for R$800,000.
The biggest acquisitions took place in 2024. Saur purchased a warehouse worth R$5 million and a property worth R$2.4 million in Duque de Caxias.
Saur also invested in two court orders in 2024, valued at R$1.7 million.
Precatório is the court order issued at the end of an action in which the State was ordered to pay an amount. These securities are sold on the market at prices lower than their real value, due to the delay in payment. The deeds, however, do not indicate the amount actually paid for the papers.
As of 2025, precatório acquisitions began to be made by Mical Invest e Participações, owned by Mariana. She bought seven shares valued at R$4.3 million. There is no reference to the amount actually paid for the securities.
In the scriptures, Mariana identifies herself as a makeup artist. She is also a partner, through Mical, of two fruit and vegetable markets in São Gonçalo.
At the end of last year, Saur registered minutes of a shareholders’ meeting with the Commercial Board to declare the financial results of the firm’s activities from its inception to November 2025. The document records a profit of R$19.6 million.
The document provides for the distribution of dividends among the partners — in addition to Douglas’s 90%, councilor Nelsinho Ruas (PL), the deputy’s brother, holds 9% of the company, and Pedro Brulher, 1%. The minutes provided for the transfer of amounts in installments until 2028, starting in December 2026.
According to the document, Douglas will receive R$15.9 million. The value represents more than 12 times the former secretary’s assets declared in 2022 (R$ 1.2 million), when he ran for state deputy.
Saur (Ruas’ surname spelled inverted) does not have a website. The company’s headquarters are located on a walled plot of land monitored by cameras in São Gonçalo, where, on March 16, there was only one bus parked.
The construction company does not appear as a government contractor for any work. However, in two labor actions, former employees reported that they worked for São Gonçalo City Hall during a period in which Douglas was municipal secretary.
The actions show works on the city’s streets. In one of the processes, there is a reproduction of a photo from a social network of Nelsinho supervising the work. All labor actions were closed after an agreement with the complainants.
Firm has solid performance in the market, says deputy
Douglas Ruas stated, in a statement, that Saur Construção “has a solid presence in the logistics market”.
“In 2023, Saur also began to operate in the real estate market and in the acquisition of financial assets, including court orders – operations that were boosted throughout the Brazilian business market by regulatory changes and STF decisions,” stated the deputy.
According to the note, the recording of profits occurred due to the tax reform, which provides for the collection of taxes on dividends from 2026.
“With this, Saur, like thousands of companies, prepared a public document, differentiating the profits measured before the new law came into force”, declared Ruas.
He also denied that he had provided services, directly or indirectly, to the City of São Gonçalo. “The labor complaints filed by former Saur employees alleging, unduly, that they had provided services to the City of São Gonçalo were not accepted by the 4th Labor Court.”
Regarding his wife’s Mical activities, the note states that “the company operates exclusively in the private sector”. “Your partner has been in the retail business for over ten years.”
