BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Abin spy agency was used to illegally monitor tax auditors who were investigating a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro in an attempt to disrupt the corruption probe, Supreme Court documents unsealed on Thursday showed.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The details unveiled on Thursday could add to Bolsonaro’s mounting legal woes. The far-right former president has already been ruled politically ineligible until 2030 for his conduct during the 2022 presidential election.
So far, he has been formally accused by police in two different cases, one including misappropriating jewelry he received while head of state and the other related to forging his COVID-19 vaccine records.
CONTEXT
Brazilian police carried out search-and-seizure raids and a handful of pre-trial arrests on Thursday regarding an ongoing investigation into Abin, which has been accused of conducting illegal surveillance on Supreme Court justices, journalists and lawmakers during Bolsonaro’s presidency.
Abin was used to illegally spy on tax auditors investigating Flavio Bolsonaro with the intention of digging up some dirt on them that could hamper a corruption probe when he was a Rio de Janeiro councilman, according to the decision seen by Reuters that approved Thursday’s raids.
THE RESPONSE
In a statement, Flavio Bolsonaro, the former president eldest son who is now a senator, denied any wrongdoing and said the details of the investigation were released to harm former Abin head Alexandre Ramagem’s intentions to run for Rio de Janeiro mayor in this year’s elections.
Representatives for Jair Bolsonaro and Ramagem did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello and Ricardo Brito; Writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Sandra Maler)
