The Court of Auditors of the State of Rio de Janeiro (TCE-RJ) will open an investigation into the use of chartered jets and official helicopters by former governor Cláudio Castro (PL).
According to counselor José Gomes Graciosa, who determined the investigation, there is “objective evidence” of misuse of aircraft funded by the state government, with suspicion of “transportation of people with no functional relationship with the mission” and “possible trips for leisure and with the presence of family members and people not belonging to the state civil servants”.
Wanted by Estadãoformer governor Cláudio Castro informed through his advisor that “all trips carried out during his administration, using chartered aircraft, strictly followed current legislation” and that “any clarifications will be provided to the competent bodies”.
The decision follows a complaint made by state deputy Martha Rocha (PDT-RJ). The TCE ordered state bodies and companies involved to deliver, within five days, documents such as logbooks, passenger lists, official schedules and records of flights carried out on chartered jets and State helicopters between March 2023 and March 2026.
They were notified to send the information to the company Líder Táxi Aéreo; the Civil House; the Institutional Security Office (GSI); the State Finance Department; the State Comptroller General and the Airspace Control Department (Decea).
According to the Court of Auditors document, data obtained via the Access to Information Law indicates that Castro made 225 trips on executive jets within the period investigated; 153 of them have Brasília as their origin or destination. The charter contract would have cost the State of Rio de Janeiro around R$18.5 million.
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According to a newspaper report The Globepart of these flights were destined for private events such as the Salvador carnival, a Formula 1 race in Interlagos, in São Paulo, and the Gramado Tourism Festival, in Rio Grande do Sul.
In a note to EstadãoCláudio Castro stated that “the displacements were linked to the fulfillment of public and institutional agendas, including meetings in Brasília at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in defense of agendas of interest to the State of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to official commitments in other states”.
In the complaint, state deputy Martha Rocha asked for the suspension of payments related to aircraft contracts. The TCE controller understood that there is no evidence that the amounts are “completely dissociated from activities of public interest” or that there is an irregularity. He mentions that the contracts involve “continuous provision of services already executed or in progress, with different objects, including preventive and corrective maintenance services”.
