Operation Venire

Brazilian Federal Police searches Bolsonaro's house and arrests Colonel Mauro Cid

Cell phones belonging to the ex-president and former first lady Michelle were seized; Six people were arrested.

Translated by: Lucas Peresin

Brasil de Fato | São Paulo (Brazil) |
Jair Bolsonaro, followed by Colonel Cid, his aide and right-hand man - Foto: Secom

The house of former president Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) is one of the targets of the operation carried out this Wednesday morning (3) by the Brazilian Federal Police, in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood, in Brasília (Federal District). The action was authorized by Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, and fulfills 16 search and seizure warrants in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro.

In addition, the Federal Police operation is also serving preventive arrest warrants against two former Bolsonaro advisers: Colonel Mauro Cid and former Bope sergeant Max Guilherme.

According to a note from the Federal Police, an operation named "Venire" is investigating the case of a "criminal association formed for the commission of crimes of inserting false Covid-19 vaccination data into the Ministry of Health's systems." The investigation analyzes the insertion of false data into the Ministry of Health system to generate vaccination certificates.

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"With this, such people were able to issue the respective vaccination certificates and use them to circumvent the current health restrictions imposed by public authorities (in Brazil and in the United States) aimed at preventing the spread of contagious disease, in this case, the Covid-19 pandemic", the Federal Police informed.

This operation takes place within the investigation that analyzes the performance of the "digital militias" and the investigated facts can configure, according to a note from the Federal Police, the crimes of infraction of preventive health measure, criminal association, insertion of false data into information systems and corruption of minors.

According to G1, the vaccination certificates for Jair Bolsonaro and his daughter Laura Bolsonaro would have been forged, as well as for Mauro Cid and his wife and daughter.

During the operation, Jair and Michelle Bolsonaro's cell phones were seized.

Edited by: Flávia Chacon e Vivian Virissimo