Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro is under much controversy following reports his son is a key member of a criminal fake news racket. According to the federal police investigators, the phony news scheme aims to threaten and defame Brazilian officials. 

The Folha de Sao Paulo, a leading newspaper, claimed the investigators are zeroing in on Carlos Bolsonaro, the president's second-born son. 

The new allegations will deepen the crisis consuming Bolsonaro's administration, which was already floundering following the resignation of his justice minister, Sergio Moro. Another one of his sons, Flavio Bolsonaro, was accused of having ties with Rio de Janeiro's mafia. 


Political Interference

Brazil's supreme court authorized an internal investigation into President Jair Bolsonaro after former Justice Minister Sergio Moro accused the president of interfering in police work. The decision made by Justice Celso de Mello allowed a formal probe by federal police. 

At a press conference where Moro announced his resignation, he accused the president of sacking the federal police director, Mauricio Valeixo, in hopes of replacing him with someone willing to share confidential intelligence reports.

He also claimed the Brazilian leader of influence-peddling, obstruction of justice, and misrepresentation of public documents. 

The Folha de Sao Paulo claimed Bolsonaro fired the police director because "they were closing in on his son."

An editorial in O Globo said Bolsonaro was turning the federal police into his personal army.

The federal police have two months to investigate the president and to decide whether to press charges. Indictments will go through the lower house of Congress and would have to be accepted before a trial could commence. 

If Congress accepts the indictment, Bolsonaro would be suspended and replaced by vice-president Hamilton Mourao for up to 180 days. If found guilty during the trial, Bolsonaro will be stripped of the presidency. 


Filling Seats

Jair Bolsonaro is expected to tap his secretary as the new justice minister after Moro stepped down Sunday. 

Jorge Antonio de Oliviera Francisco has overseen the drafting of the current administration's decrees and legislative proposals. His father served as Bolsonaro's aide for two decades in Congress. Before Jair won the presidency, Oliviera served as chief of staff to one of Bolsonaro's sons, Eduardo. 

Meanwhile, the head of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency, Alexandre Ramagem, is tipped to be elected as the new federal police chief. 


Mafia Ties

In December 2019, investigators stormed the home of the Brazilian president's longstanding friend, as well as addresses linked to his son, Flavio, in connection to a corruption investigation. 

The operation aims to crack down on embezzlement and money-laundering schemes that allegedly involved Bolsonaro's eldest son, Flavio. He was accused of financing the construction of militia-controlled buildings in one of the favela neighborhoods using public money. He was also found to have profited from an illegal scheme. 

The federal police linked Flavio to leading a corruption racket. The scheme operated during his 15 years as a congressman, and his former security chief, Queiroz, was named as a collaborator. 

The Brazilian press also released reports of Flavio conspiring with members of an infamous death squad. The group is considered to be Rio's most lethal and secretive horde of hired guns. 


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