The ICB (Instituto conhecimento Brasil), hired a company owned by Alex Leandro Bispo dos Santos, 40, to install Wi-Fi points in favelas in the capital of São Paulo. According to police intelligence agencies, the businessman is a relevant member of the criminal faction (Primeiro Comando da Capital) in the state.
Karina Gama gained prominence as the owner of Go Up Entertainment, a producer (underdog, in English), over the former president (PL). The businesswoman’s name also became the target of questions due to a R$108 million contract signed between the ICB and.
The police are investigating whether part of the resources from the contract with City Hall were diverted to the production of the work.
It was in this project with the municipality that the Santos company, Favela Conectada Serviços e Tecnologia Ltda., was subcontracted by the ICB for up to R$12 million to implement 2,000 Wi-Fi points in communities in the west and south zones of the capital of São Paulo. An extract obtained by Sheet indicates the payment of R$2 million on July 7, 2025.
Santos’ police record contains at least three convictions for robbery, which led him to serve 13 prisons in almost 13 years in the system. The convictions total 34 years.
His defense denies any connection with the criminal faction. Karina’s institute says it was unaware of the contracted company’s ties, but highlighted that it was in good standing and there was no legal impediment. The City of São Paulo stated that its legal relationship occurs exclusively with the ICB.
Company, arrests and processes
Santos’ company was created in 2020, with a different name and different purpose of activity, shortly after he left prison. It started with a capital of R$10 thousand and was later changed to R$500 thousand.
Also known as Baianão, Santos has been arrested and prosecuted since 2003, when he turned 18. At that time, he was arrested on suspicion of participating in the lightning kidnapping of Roberto Calmon de Barros Barreto Filho, nephew of the then senator Eduardo Suplicy (PT).
From November 2012 to December 2017, for example, he stayed in Penitentiary 2 of Presidente Venceslau, in the interior of São Paulo, where since 2006 the government began to concentrate prisoners appointed as PCC leaders. During the same period, Marco Willians Herbas Camacho, known as Marcola, was in the unit, appointed as the top leader of the criminal faction.
After spending a period in Mirandópolis 1, Santos was released in November 2018. At the end of last year, however, he returned to prison, now under suspicion of feminicide. In November 2025, according to the investigation, he allegedly threw his girlfriend, Maria Katiane Gomes da Silva, 25, from the balcony on the 10th floor of an apartment in Vila Andrade, Morumbi region.
Maria Katiane appears as a witness in a contract signed between the ICB and the Santos company.
In this new prison he was also sent to a unit where members of the PCC are located, in Iperó. The distribution of prisoners by units occurs after the prisoner self-declares his connection to factions.
In the feminicide inquiry, a witness presented a recording of an argument between Alex Santos and Maria Katiane. In the audio, he states: “I have a PCC scorpion”, in reference to a tattoo.
“Alex also has two tattoos, of a carp and a dragon, which in the context of criminal factions, have a meaning. The combination of both symbols reinforces the idea of a member who has overcome great challenges and achieved a high or superior status within the faction,” says a police report.
PCC experts say the group does not use tattoos to identify its members. Some use certain symbols on their own to assume their explicit connection with crime.
Other side
Santos’ lawyer, Eugênio Malavasi, claims that his client did not commit femicide and even helped in the investigations to demonstrate that the victim threw herself out of the window. According to the defense, the defendant handed over an Alexa virtual assistant that could contain important information about what happened.
Regarding the contract with the ICB, Malavasi said he had no information on the matter, because his work is limited to working in the feminicide process. He states, however, that his client never declared himself a member of the PCC and denies having any connection with the group. “He categorically denies being a member of the PCC,” he said.
When contacted, the Instituto Saber Brasil stated that the contracting of Favela Conectada, also known as Urban Connect Serviços e Tecnologia Ltda., was made by them, without indication from the City of São Paulo or the Municipal Secretariat of Innovation and Technology.
According to the institute, the company’s choice took into account technical, operational and documentary criteria, in addition to the company’s experience in highly complex areas, such as communities. The entity states that, at the time, Urban Connect presented regular documentation and was already developing connectivity activities in Paraisópolis in partnership with Surf Telecom.
“At the time of hiring, the institute was not aware of any link of this nature, nor was there any legal impediment or formal restriction that would make it unfeasible to hire the company or its representative”, says an excerpt from a note sent to Sheet.
Still according to the institute, Santos did not implement the 2,000 Wi-Fi points initially planned. The entity states that, after readjustment promoted by SMIT (Municipal Secretariat for Innovation and Technology), the project’s overall goal was reduced from 5,000 to 3,200 points, which changed the participation of suppliers.
In this context, according to the ICB, Urban Connect was responsible for the implementation, maintenance and monitoring of 908 points.
The institute did not inform the amounts paid to the company. He said that remuneration occurred only for points actually implemented, validated and in operation.
The City of São Paulo reported that Favela Conectada has not acted as a partner of the ICB, within the scope of the Free WiFi Program, since December 2025. SMIT says that there is not, nor was there, a direct contractual link between the municipality and the company or its administrator.
“Therefore, any association between São Paulo City Hall and the city is irresponsible and frivolous”, says an excerpt from the note sent by the municipality.
According to the official response, the city hall’s legal relationship occurs exclusively with the ICB, the entity responsible for executing the partnership. The partner organization is responsible for hiring, managing and supervising its suppliers and possible subcontractors.
The municipality also says that it has adopted measures against companies involved in suspected links with criminal groups, as occurred in December 2024, when Nunes ordered the breaking of contracts with bus companies under investigation.
Regarding the Free WiFi Program, the city hall states that the points contracted and paid for by the ICB have been installed and continue to operate. According to SMIT, there are no irregularities confirmed so far in the ongoing investigations.
The secretariat also states that the collaboration agreement signed with the ICB provides for inspection mechanisms, including monitoring of goals, performance indicators and analysis of accountability.
