An anonymous report sent to the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MP-SP) last year put Gaeco promoters on the trail of a complex bid fraud scheme operated by First Capital Command (PCC) within city halls and municipal councils in the interior of the State and the metropolitan region. The faction would have control over a network of companies, registered in private names, which would act in collusion with public agents suspected of corruption to obtain huge contracts – whose combined values could exceed R$200 million. The final word on the division of these contracts, according to the investigation by Operation Munditiawas the responsibility of the “crime court”.
On social media, those investigated boasted the lives of successful businesspeople. Parties, travel and a high standard routine. “Safeguarding the advantages of illicit acts, the main defendants do not hesitate to flaunt movable assets, real estate, spending on travel and parties on social media”, says the report by prosecutors from the Special Action and Combating Organized Crime Group, an arm of the São Paulo Public Ministry. .
Outside the internet, they lobbied politicians and auctioneers, paid bribes to civil servants and politicians and combined proposals to simulate competition for contracts. Operation Muditia investigates contracts from at least 12 city halls and chambers.
Image credit: Vagner Borges Dias (in black, on the left, and in the middle photo), Márcio Zeca da Silva (in an orange cap) and Carlos Roberto Galvão Júnior (right) are among those targeted for temporary arrest warrants in Operation Muditia. Photograph: Reproduction/court case and @latrellbritooficial via Instagram
Investigators suspect that the “head” of the scheme is Vagner Borges Dias, known as Latrell Brito, a PCC pagodeiro appointed as “manager” of the companies. He was a kind of pivot of the investigation and is on the run. After the court authorized the breaking of his message confidentiality, other suspects were drawn into the investigation.
The conversations had a ripple effect – passages relevant to the investigation are recorded in a 503-page report obtained by Estadão. The document brings together dialogues, in audio and text, about the delivery of bribes, PCC disputes and the bid fraud scheme.
The Public Ministry also had access to files shared and received by the pagodeiro. There are records of dozens of weapons and bags of money. “Violence and dangerousness is a keynote in their conversations”, emphasizes the MP.
In one video, he films weapons stored in a safe and asks: “Do you want me to solve it with these two toys? Two, no, there’s one more here, one more, three, three little toys.”
Although he has a CAC license (Hunter, Sport Shooter and Firearm Collector), Latrell Brito uses the authorization to “forge legality” in the illegal possession of his arsenal, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Another dialogue highlighted in the report shows that he even boasts about carrying a gun. The pagodeiro photographs a Civil Police vehicle and says: “Good, vehicle in front of you, gun in the console.”
The Public Prosecutor’s Office found numerous images of weapons and large amounts of money in Vagner’s conversations. Photograph: Reproduction/court process
On social media, where he has a certified profile and almost 1 million followers, the identity was different. He has a career as a pagode singer. His stage name is Latrell Brito.
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The analysis of his messages is part of an effort by the Public Ministry to demonstrate the businessman and pagodeiro’s connection with the PCC. In this context, prosecutors draw attention to his proximity to a name already known to investigative bodies: Márcio Zeca da Silva, “Gordo”. Convicted of drug trafficking, “Gordo” was caught in 2021 with 200 portions of cocaine in a false bottom of a Mercedes. According to the MP, he has a “long” involvement with the criminal faction and, over the years, managed to take the lead in businesses focused on laundering drug assets. Latrell and “Gordo” would be partners, the investigation points out.
Another key character in the investigation is Carlos Roberto Galvão Júnior, “Juninho”, owner – at least on paper – of the company Centermix. For the Public Ministry, he only lent his name as an orange for the scheme. “Simply monitoring the posts on his social networks, times and locations, proves that Carlos is not dedicated to work, much less actually working as a businessman.”
Vagner photographs a Civil Police vehicle and writes on WhatsApp: “Yummy, vehicle in front of you, gun in the console.” Photograph: Reproduction/court process
The figurehead of the scheme would be Antônio Carlos de Morais. He presented himself in face-to-face and electronic auctions as a representative of the companies under suspicion. According to the investigation, it is Moraes who commands the bureaucratic and administrative part of the operation. Messages indicate that he even gave guidance to public agents for the preparation of notices, so that the clauses benefited the group.
In the division of tasks, the payment of bribes would be the responsibility of Wellington Costa, “Bola”. Prosecutors found records of envelopes with cash that he would deliver to public agents in different cities.
All were subject to temporary arrest warrants in Operation Muditia.
Tags: PCC agents city halls chambers carried ostentatious routine parties trips
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