The congressional office of federal deputy Cezinha de Madureira (PL party, São Paulo) has employed a former São Paulo Military Police sergeant suspected of ties to the leadership of the PCC, Brazil's largest criminal faction, since August 2024. G1 reported the hiring on Monday (14), the same day the Federal Police targeted the congressman in a search operation.
The action was the third phase of Operação Transparência, which investigates suspected attempts to sway rulings by Brazil's high courts, according to news site O Antagonista. The warrants also targeted lawyer Valéria Rodrigues Linhares, the deputy's wife. In a statement, Cezinha's lawyers denied any wrongdoing.
"Calm in his full confidence in the Justice system and certain of his spotless conduct, federal deputy Cezinha de Madureira stands at the disposal of the authorities and will provide all necessary clarification," the lawyers' statement said.
The employee's record
The aide, Farani Salvador Júnior, was expelled from the São Paulo force in May 2023. The Military Police's internal affairs office concluded he had committed "acts offensive to the institution, the state and fundamental human rights, as well as dishonorable ones (...) amounting to serious disciplinary infractions".
The disciplinary case was tied to the February 2020 killing of Military Police corporal Wanderley Oliveira Júnior. São Paulo's homicide division indicted Farani as the man who ordered the killing, and state prosecutors filed charges. G1 reports the accusation held that he ordered his colleague's death over a dossier the corporal had compiled linking the sergeant to PCC members in eastern São Paulo. Farani spent two years in pretrial detention and was acquitted by a jury in 2022.
Suspected links between Farani and other military police officers and the PCC remain under investigation in both military and civilian courts. He is a defendant before a São Paulo court that handles tax crimes, criminal organizations and money laundering.
What comes next
G1 said it sought comment from Cezinha's press office and had received no reply by its last update. The Federal Police, according to O Antagonista, said there is no evidence so far that members of the judiciary took part in the facts under investigation. The court cases involving Farani remain open, and the deputy's defense says he is available to answer the authorities on the inquiry behind Monday's operation.