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BRAZIL-POLITICS-CORRUPTION
Bolsonaro’s son faces probe over ‘ghost employees’
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Brazilian prosecutors have
started a new investigation into the eldest son of President Jair Bolsonaro
over suspicion he embezzled public money by hiring “ghost employees,”
officials said.
The Rio de Janeiro Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement Saturday they
were investigating Flavio Bolsonaro — a 38-year-old senator — in relation
to “the employment of ghost employees” from his cabinet.
The events in question date to the period he was regional deputy of the
State of Rio.
Flavio’s father, the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, took office on a
promise of eradicating corruption but has been repeatedly hit by scandals
involving his son.
At the beginning of the year another investigation initially focused on
Flavio’s former bodyguard and driver, a policeman named Fabricio Queiroz.
Brazil’s government anti-financial crimes agency COAF detected 1.2 million
reais in transactions made in 2016 through Queiroz’s accounts (equivalent to
$344,500 according to average exchange rates that year), far exceeding his
salary.
One transaction was a deposit to an account belonging to President
Bolsonaro’s wife Michelle. The president said it was repayment of an
undeclared loan he had made to Queiroz.
Later, it was revealed that COAF also found 48 deposits to Flavio
Bolsonaro’s account in June and July 2017 — some made within minutes of each
other — that totalled 96,000 reais.
Both Queiroz and Flavio Bolsonaro denied wrongdoing in media interviews.
The prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the case, but it was
suspended in July after the Supreme Court decided judicial authorization was
needed to obtain this type of financial data.
The decision could soon be reversed, however, after the court last week
began a fresh debate in plenary session, the result of which could exempt
prosecutors from requiring such authorization.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1337 hrs