Brazil's Federal Police on Thursday, October 8, launched Operation Coaptação, arresting five people and executing 24 search and seizure warrants in an investigation into an alleged scheme to divert public health funds in the northeastern state of Ceará. At the center of the case is the Cooperativa de Atendimento Pré & Hospital (Coaph), a health cooperative based in Fortaleza that received more than R$ 1 billion in federal public money through contracts with state and municipal governments between 2007 and 2025, according to the investigation reported by G1.
According to the Federal Police, the mechanism started from a legal constraint: as a cooperative, Coaph could not turn a profit. To get around that, the suspects allegedly created so-called "notarial companies", firms that existed almost only on paper. These companies signed contracts with city governments, with room for profit, and issued invoices even without the capacity to deliver the services they were hired for. The crimes under investigation are money laundering, corruption, criminal organization and document fraud.
What is confirmed and what remains under investigation
G1 confirmed that among the five detainees is physician José Newton Lacerda Carneiro, the cooperative's former president and current treasurer. The current president, physician Montezuma Feitosa Alexandrino, was the target of a search and seizure warrant. A court also ordered the precautionary removal of five Coaph managers and the seizure of 38 properties and 82 vehicles. Warrants were served in Fortaleza, Caucaia, Eusébio and Tauá, in Ceará, and in Campina Grande, in the neighboring state of Paraíba, with banking and tax secrecy lifted for individuals and companies.
The investigation began, according to G1's reporting, after a Coaph accountant was arrested during the 2024 elections carrying a large sum of cash, which led agents to identify suspicious high-value withdrawals. What is still unknown: the Federal Police has not said how much money was actually diverted, nor which city governments it came from. Coaph holds service contracts with several Ceará municipalities, including Fortaleza, and those points remain under investigation.
Among the seized assets are a McLaren Artura, valued at up to R$ 3 million, and a Chevrolet Corvette, worth up to R$ 1 million, found at the Drive Car dealership in Fortaleza, which the Federal Police points to as a money laundering vehicle for the scheme. At the cooperative president's home, in a luxury condominium in Aquiraz, agents seized luxury watches, including a Patek Philippe valued at around R$ 3 million. TV Verdes Mares contacted Drive Car, which had not responded by publication time.
In a statement, Coaph said the operation is not limited to the cooperative and covers other health sector companies with public contracts. The entity said the investigation is necessary, but asked for the preservation of "an institution that provides essential health services". G1 was unable to reach the lawyers of Carneiro and Alexandrino before publishing its report.
Ceará news portal CN7 notes this is not the first time Coaph has appeared in an investigation: in 2022, the state's Civil Police launched an operation to look into signs of bid rigging and embezzlement at the cooperative. In September of this year, according to the same outlet, the cooperative's president was shot at while driving in Tauá, in the state's interior.
For patients of the SUS, Brazil's public health system, in the cities served by Coaph, the practical point is service continuity: the service contracts remain active, and the Federal Police says the asset seizures aim to secure repayment to public coffers. Suspected misuse of health funds can be reported to municipal health councils or to the state prosecutor's office, both of which are required to investigate complaints. The next steps in the case, such as possible charges from federal prosecutors, have no set timeline.