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BRASILIA (Reuters): Brazilian Senator Chico Rodrigues was caught in a police raid with money hidden between his buttocks on Wednesday, a judicial source briefed on the matter told Reuters, amid an investigation into the misuse of response funds. Covid-19.
In the Senate, Rodrigues represents the northern state of Roraima and had also been elected as the deputy leader for the agenda of the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, who won the presidency by campaigning strongly to end the corruption of previous governments.
On Thursday afternoon, Rodrigues was suspended from the Senate for 90 days by Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso, who said the Senate could decide whether the measure is permanent.
“The police team has a video of the second personal search that was carried out,” Barroso wrote in Thursday’s decision.
“However, in this case, considering the way Senator Chico Rodrigues hid the money, very deeply in his underwear, I will not reproduce these images in this report so as not to cause further embarrassment.”
Rodrigues confirmed in a statement that his home was raided, without giving details. He denied wrongdoing and said he had been clean during his 30 years in politics.
His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the money allegedly found in his pants, an incident that was widely reported in major Brazilian newspapers, citing unidentified sources.
Federal police declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of the investigation. In a statement Wednesday, police said they had conducted raids as part of an investigation into the possible misuse of congressional funds directed at the health secretary in Roraima to pay for the COVID-19 response.
On Thursday, Bolsonaro said the police raid was evidence that his government was fighting corruption.
“There is no corruption in my government and we fight against corruption, whoever it is,” he told his followers outside his official residence.
Bolsonaro’s anti-corruption credentials have wavered since the presidential campaign. His former Justice Minister Sergio Moro, an immensely popular former judge who was known for his tough stance on corruption, resigned earlier this year, claiming that Bolsonaro had attempted to interfere in a police investigation for personal gain, an accusation Bolsonaro denies.
The president’s son is under investigation for corruption in Rio de Janeiro. Bolsonaro and his son deny any wrongdoing. – Reuters
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