Justice Flavio Dino of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) ruled on Friday (11) that the Federal Police must open a dedicated inquiry into suspected fraud in the wi-fi service contract between the city of Sao Paulo and the Conhecer Brasil Institute (ICB), an organization run by businesswoman Karina da Gama, who is under investigation for money laundering. According to G1, the ruling, still under judicial seal, also orders the Sao Paulo state Civil Police to hand its own inquiry into the NGO over to the Supreme Court and suspends any payment of public contracts with the institute.

In the justice's view, the state-level investigations into ICB contracts are directly connected to the federal probe into the diversion of congressional earmarks, known in Brazil as "emendas parlamentares", which is before the STF because it involves federal Congressman Mario Frias (PL-SP). He enjoys privileged jurisdiction, a rule that sends cases involving members of Congress to the Supreme Court. Dino wrote that there are strong indications the facts form a single diversion and money laundering scheme, which led the court to take over the case. On Thursday (10), Frias and Karina da Gama were targets of Operation Make Up, in which the Federal Police served 49 search warrants in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Ceara and the Federal District, seized passports and barred the suspects from contacting one another. Police are investigating embezzlement, money laundering, document forgery, criminal organization and bidding crimes, and estimate the alleged losses in the hundreds of millions of reais.

The ICB's wi-fi contract with the Sao Paulo city government is worth R$ 157 million, according to the Federal Police report that underpinned the justice's decision. The document points to signs of a financial round trip of at least R$ 6.1 million: money left the institute for subcontracted companies, including Complexsys and Fastfuture, owned by the couple Andre Feldman and Debora Gomes Feldman, and returned to another entity controlled by Karina da Gama, the National Academy of Culture (ANC), which shares the same address as the ICB in the Jardins district. According to G1, the purchase of a car for roughly R$ 100,000 in cash drew the attention of COAF, Brazil's financial intelligence unit.

Earlier on Friday, before the ruling, Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) had said he would ask the STF whether the ban on contracts with the investigated entities, set on Thursday, applies to deals already signed. If it does, he said, the city will terminate the contract, which he put at R$ 108 million per year. "If the company really can no longer have a contract with anyone (...) we will have to break the contract. And lose 3,200 wi-fi points in the communities and favelas," he said. Nunes defended the bidding process, which was open for 30 days, and said the city's internal audit office is reviewing the NGO's accounts and has found no wrongdoing by the administration.

Timeline

• May 2026: news site The Intercept publishes audio of Senator Flavio Bolsonaro (PL) asking banker Daniel Vorcaro for money to finance the film "Dark Horse"; the case spawns inquiries at the STF, now split between Dino (earmarks) and Andre Mendonca (film financing).
• Thursday (10): the Federal Police serves 49 Operation Make Up warrants against Mario Frias and Karina da Gama, investigated on suspicion of diverting congressional earmarks.
• Friday (11), morning: Nunes announces he will consult the STF on whether to terminate the ICB wi-fi contract.
• Friday (11): Dino orders the exclusive Federal Police inquiry, pulls the state case to the STF and suspends payments to the institute.

Asked about the cash purchase of the car, Nunes said: "Absolutely no one is above the law. Not a mayor, not a journalist, not a judge." Frias called the operation a "smoke screen" timed to the election season and said he has documents proving the earmark was lawful, destined for a sports and digital literacy project for children. Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator under investigation in a parallel inquiry into the film's financing, insists the movie was made with private money: "Everything there was spotless, private investment in a private film." Agencia Brasil reported it received no response from Karina da Gama.

Everyone named is an investigation target and is presumed innocent until conviction. The Federal Police must now open the exclusive inquiry and gather the state case files; no deadline has been disclosed, as the case remains under seal. City Hall awaits a reply on whether to terminate the contract, which keeps 3,200 wi-fi points running in low-income neighborhoods.