Brazil's Federal Police twice asked the courts to remove Carlos Brandão, the governor of Maranhão, from office during an inquiry into a suspected scheme to divert public funds in the state. Neither request was granted. Folha de S.Paulo reported the attempts on Wednesday night (23). The police also sought search and seizure warrants against the governor, two of his brothers and his daughter.
The inquiry opened in 2024. According to Folha, it grew out of a report by Coaf, Brazil's financial intelligence council, on unusual transactions, mostly in the town of Colinas, a stronghold of the Brandão family. The investigation was requested by the PGR, the federal prosecutors' office, and authorized by the STJ, Brazil's second-highest court, which handles cases involving state governors. Those under investigation include the governor and his nephew Daniel Brandão, who was then president of the Maranhão state audit court, the TCE-MA. Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino later removed Daniel from that post.
What the police allege
According to the Federal Police, which worked alongside the CGU, the federal audit office, companies in Brandão's group received public money diverted from the Colinas city hall and the state government. The suspected crimes listed in the inquiry include tax offenses, money laundering, rigged procurement, passive corruption and criminal organization.
Brandão's lawyers said they would not comment on the case because they "had no access to the supposed reports and pieces of information mentioned, which remain under judicial secrecy." They also said they reject any attempt to attribute crimes to him. The lawyers told g1 that the Federal Police sent a letter directly to the governor setting a five-day deadline to hand over copies of state police files and other documents. The defense challenges the request, which it says was made without a court order and without input from prosecutors.
A dispute over jurisdiction
Brandão appealed to the Supreme Federal Court on Monday (31) against a ruling by Justice Dias Toffoli, who in August rejected the defense's bid to suspend the steps taken in the inquiry by Justice Flávio Dino. According to g1, the lawyers argue the case belongs at the STJ, the court with jurisdiction over governors, and say filings by the PGR point the same way. The defense also says the prosecutors' office disagreed with some measures sought by the police, such as searches and seizures, secrecy breaches and removals from public office.
Folha places the inquiry within a political war in Maranhão, pitting Brandão's group against former allies of Flávio Dino, a former state governor now on the Supreme Court. The feud drew national attention through the fallout from a daylight killing at the entrance of a shopping area in an upscale district of São Luís and the breach of a journalist's source confidentiality. The next step belongs to Toffoli. He may reconsider his ruling or put the matter before the full court. The inquiry remains under judicial secrecy.