A decision by Justice Flávio Dino of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), made public on Monday (14), states that the R$510,000 in cash seized on August 25 at Congonhas airport in São Paulo was in a carry-on bag carried by lawyer Valéria Rodrigues Linhares. The ruling describes her as the wife of federal deputy Cezinha de Madureira (PL party, São Paulo), who is under investigation on suspicion of influence peddling, and orders that all investigative proceedings related to the seizure be sent to the court.
According to G1, which reviewed the decision, Federal Police officers seized the money as Valéria was boarding a flight to Brasília, during X-ray screening of her hand luggage. The seizure matters to the case, Dino wrote, because contracts found on a phone already seized by police set success fees of R$500,000, R$1 million and R$2 million for Valéria's individual law practice. Cash carried in person could make such payments harder to trace, the justice argued, which justified seizing documents, contracts, financial records and electronic devices from those under investigation.
What the investigation alleges
The case is the third phase of Operation Transparency, which looks into suspected exploitation of prestige, influence peddling, passive corruption and money laundering. The ruling says investigators see a coordinated effort involving lawyer Mariângela Fialek, described as responsible for recruiting and formalizing cases and drafting legal briefs; Valéria; and the deputy himself, whom the investigation credits with acting before justices of Brazil's highest courts (the STF, the Superior Court of Justice and the Superior Electoral Court). Messages taken from Fialek's phone led police to allege a partnership to obtain favorable rulings at the STF with Cezinha's help. On Monday, officers served four search warrants in the Federal District and in São Paulo, targeting the deputy and Valéria's firm; the warrants allow the seizure of documents, electronic devices and cash above R$10,000.
The ruling stresses that the justices of the higher courts named in the messages are not under investigation. According to Dino, the case files contain no record of any judge soliciting, accepting or receiving an improper benefit; the magistrates appear only as possible targets of the influence the suspects allegedly offered.
The case so far
The contracts and messages cited in the ruling date from May to July 2025 and involve complaints pending at the STF. Operation Transparency opened in December 2025 to investigate suspected irregularities in the allocation of congressional budget amendments, according to Congresso em Foco. On August 25, police seized the R$510,000 from Valéria at Congonhas; on Monday, Dino's decision became public and the searches were carried out.
At the time of the seizure, Valéria said the money had been declared on her income tax return and that she would present proof of its origin. Her defense says the funds came from legal fees paid by a client and that tax documentation will be presented later. The deputy was not with her when she was stopped. The ruling calls her Cezinha's wife; her defense says she is his ex-wife.
The deputy's defense, from the law firm Carneiros Advogados, denied any wrongdoing and questioned the timing of the operation, launched less than three weeks before the first round of Brazil's general elections. The lawyers said measures with such impact should be taken "with due distance from any political or electoral circumstance", and stated in a note:
"With the calm of someone who fully trusts the Justice system and certain of his always unblemished conduct, federal deputy Cezinha de Madureira is at the disposal of the authorities and will provide all necessary clarifications."
The STF will now supervise both proceedings, the seizure case and the investigation into the deputy, which Dino said are connected by shared evidence. The court will later decide whether the cases should be split; no date is set. Everyone under investigation is presumed innocent.