Files from the São Paulo state police made public after the end of secrecy in the "Dark Horse" case include messages that try to link Senator Flávio Bolsonaro to the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital), one of Brazil's largest criminal factions, according to a column in Folha de S.Paulo. The release follows a decision by Justice Flávio Dino of the STF, Brazil's Supreme Court, who on Sunday (13) lifted the secrecy on the investigation into the film's financing and ordered the material sent to the Federal Police.
For Folha, the decision put the case back at the center of Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential campaign. The senator, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro and a candidate in this year's race, has faced the issue since May, when an audio recording became public in which he asks former banker Daniel Vorcaro for money to fund the biopic about his father. According to the newspaper, recent disclosures show the senator was already under investigation over suspected irregularities in the film's production, and further evidence could hurt his candidacy.
The decision that named the PCC
Dino mentioned the faction twice in Sunday's ruling, according to news magazine CartaCapital. Taking over the investigation, the justice wrote that the suspected scheme to divert public money "would reach, even, ties with the PCC faction, as an investigative line mentioned in the case files". He also cited "interconnected acts even with the PCC criminal faction, which may mean an interstate dimension, recommending action by the Federal Police".
The link to the faction described in the files runs through Alex Leandro Bispo dos Santos, described by police as a significant PCC figure in São Paulo state. He was a partner in Urban Connect Serviços e Tecnologia, a company that received more than 1.2 million reais from the Instituto Conhecer Brasil, an organization controlled by Karina Ferreira da Gama, a partner in Go Up Entertainment, the producer of "Dark Horse". "If bank owners, politicians or judges appear as suspects in a set of proceedings, all investigations must move in step, with wide publicity", Dino wrote, in a passage quoted by Poder360.
The operation and what comes next
On Thursday (10), the Federal Police launched Operation Make Up to investigate the diversion of public funds through congressional budget earmarks tied to the film. Targets included federal congressman Mário Frias (PL-SP), the film's screenwriter and executive producer, and Karina. Frias called the inquiry a "smoke screen". In a statement to G1, Karina's lawyers said lifting the secrecy was "positive" and that "the publicity of the elements of the investigation will allow the facts to be known in their entirety and examined objectively".
Dino ordered all raw data extracted from phones seized by state police to be sent to the Federal Police, which now holds the devices. The inquiry into the budget earmarks remains with Dino at the Supreme Court, alongside the separate Banco Master investigation led by Justice André Mendonça. No deadline has been set for the review of the material.