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🇧🇷 Brazil /Elections & Politics

Chamber of Deputies server Tuca accused of operating scheme involving parliamentary amendments

From Folha de S.Paulo · () Portuguese

Translated from Portuguese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A server at Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, Mariângela Fialek, known as Tuca, is accused by the Federal Police of being central to a scheme to divert parliamentary funds.
  • The scheme allegedly benefited Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the PL party, who is not a lawmaker but is accused of directing the allocation of public funds.
  • An investigation revealed Tuca's alleged role in centralizing and organizing Costa Neto's directives, with evidence pointing to 21 suspicious amendments totaling over R$119 million.

Mariângela Fialek, a trusted aide to former Chamber of Deputies president Arthur Lira, is identified by Brazil's Federal Police as the "main character" in an alleged scheme to divert parliamentary funds. Known as Tuca, she currently serves in the PP party leadership, Lira's party.

The investigation suggests Fialek was the central figure in an "arrangements for the allocation of public funds" that benefited Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the PL party. Costa Neto, despite not being a lawmaker, is accused of defining and reallocating amendments. This finding stems from data extracted from Fialek's seized phone, as detailed in a Supreme Court decision that ordered the blocking of R$119 million in Costa Neto's assets.

According to the Federal Police, Fialek, with the help of two other servers from the PL party leadership, Nara Benedetti Nicolau Brum and Garigham Amarante Pinto, processed and organized Costa Neto's requests. Dialogues cited in the decision show Fialek receiving demands and requests from Costa Neto, with discussions about reallocating funds, including R$24 million in tourism-related amendments.

The group allegedly used spreadsheets to systematize amendment indications, listing deputies as false applicants to legitimize transfers directed by Costa Neto. Police identified 21 suspicious amendments totaling R$119.2 million, with R$104 million already paid. Fialek's name previously surfaced in August 2024 when it was revealed she influenced the distribution of R$1.1 billion in amendments.

a existência de um arranjo decisório paralelo para a destinação de verbas públicas

— Flávio DinoJustice Flávio Dino of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) described the alleged scheme in his decision.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Folha de S.Paulo in Portuguese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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