Federal Police findings made public on Monday (Sept 14) show that lawyer Valéria Rodrigues Linhares, the ex-wife of federal congressman Cezinha de Madureira (PL-SP), allegedly negotiated a R$ 2 million success fee tied to the release of a jailed former education official whose case is before the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), Brazil's top court. The material grounded search warrants executed the same day against the congressman and the lawyer. Justice Flávio Dino, who oversees the case, unsealed the ruling that authorized the warrants. According to the document, Cezinha offered to raise the matter personally with Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, the case's rapporteur.
The jailed secretary's case
The case is Reclamação 81.608, a procedural complaint filed by Denis de Souza Macedo, former education secretary of Belford Roxo, a city in Rio de Janeiro state. He was arrested last year in a Federal Police operation investigating the diversion of R$ 112 million from Fundeb, the basic education fund, and the national school meals program. The first contract discussed in the messages paid R$ 1 million to the office of lawyer Mariângela Fialek, known as Tuca, if the complaint succeeded. Fialek then proposed an amendment raising the fee to R$ 2 million if the former secretary were released. The unsealed excerpt does not show whether the deal was signed at that value, but Fialek still appears in the case as one of Denis's lawyers, Valor Econômico reports.
The messages came from Tuca's phone. Police describe her as one of the main operators of the "secret budget," a congressional earmark scheme, during Arthur Lira's term as speaker of the lower house of Congress. In the police reading, Tuca recruited clients and drafted briefs, Linhares signed contracts and million-reais credit assignments, and the congressman held direct contacts with justices. "The congressman did not merely forward documents: he committed to making a personal and direct request to the judge, on behalf of parties represented by lawyers linked to him by marriage and by financial interest," the police wrote in a passage highlighted by Dino.
"It seems clear to me that the facts under investigation may involve, in theory, a federal congressman who lacks a license to practice law and yet apparently uses the standing of his office to instill in third parties the perception of influence over judges of the superior courts. I stress that the perception of high pay seems to rule out the idea that this was a mere 'political act'," Dino wrote.
After Nunes Marques's office sent a formal reply to a meeting request on Aug 21, 2025, Tuca complained to the congressman about the difficulty of reaching the justice's staff. He answered "calma," or calm down, and said he would "go there and gauge it." Seven days later he asked her to send "the print of the agenda request" again. For Dino, the exchange shows "the continuation of the personal handling of the matter." The ruling also cites fees of R$ 500,000 tied to a favorable decision for the mayor of Beberibe, in Ceará state, and messages in which the congressman mentions "André," "minister Kassio" and "Antônio Carlos." Police are checking whether these refer to Justices André Mendonça and Kassio Nunes Marques, of the STF, and Antônio Carlos Ferreira, of the Superior Court of Justice.
Reactions and next steps
In a statement, Cezinha's lawyers deny any wrongdoing and say the congressman stands ready to give authorities every clarification. Linhares's defense said it will request access to the case files and noted she was married to Cezinha for 24 years and has been divorced for a year and a half; the police document had listed her as his wife. Fialek's lawyers had not commented by publication time. Nunes Marques said meeting parties is "part of the routine" of judges and that a judge in his office took a video call from Fialek on Aug 1, 2025, adding that he decides "independently and based on the laws and the Constitution." Both the police and Dino stress that the justices named in the messages are not under investigation.
The inquiry is an offshoot of Operation Transparência, launched in December 2025 to probe influence peddling, exploitation of prestige, passive corruption and money laundering in cases before the STF, the Superior Court of Justice and the Superior Electoral Court. Dino remains the rapporteur. The Federal Police investigation continues, and the defense teams will get full access to the records before any ruling on the merits.