Brazil investigators carry out raids amid graft probe into Bolsonaro's son

DECEMBER 18, 2019 / 7:58 AM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO

Rodrigo Viga Gaier
2 MIN READ




FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s Senator Flavio Bolsonaro smiles near Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro after the launch of a new political party, the Alliance for Brazil (APB) in Brasilia, Brazil November 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino


RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro state prosecutors on Wednesday raided properties of the former staff of Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and relatives of the president’s ex-wife, according to prosecutors and two sources familiar with the matter.

The current investigation is an offshoot from an earlier probe looking into suspicious payments to staff from when Senator Flavio Bolsonaro was a Rio state lawmaker. The original investigation was frozen by Brazil’s Supreme Court earlier this year, but later unshelved.

Flavio Bolsonaro has insisted he is innocent of any crimes. However, the investigation has been a stain on him and his father’s young administration, which came to power vowing to kick out years of political graft in Brazil.

Investigators carried out 24 raids as part of the probe into Fabrício Queiroz, Flavio Bolsonaro’s former employee at the state legislature who is being investigated on suspicion of helping skim phantom employees’ salaries, the Rio state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

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