Dino claims that Valdemar embezzled R$119 million from the secret budget and asks for asset blocking

According to the Federal Police investigation, Valdemar had used employees of the Chamber of Deputies to direct resources from the so-called secret budget for his own benefit. The case was revealed by Estadão in May 2021.

The report requested Valdemar's opinion on the decision. The space remains open.

"There is no doubt that the actions now investigated caused losses to the treasury, at which point amendments representing more than R$ 119 million were forged and diverted. The fact that a third party not active in the Brazilian Parliament had the power and interference over the direction of the public budget is extremely serious and materializes the most harmful thing in terms of deviations involving the topic of the secret budget", wrote the minister in the 34-page decision.

“If we take the most condescending of the tables and consider the deviations ‘only’ from the amendments already paid, we have a consolidation of a deviation of R$ 104 million”, says an excerpt from the PF report sent to Dino.

Investigators suspect that the PL president, convicted of the crimes of passive corruption and money laundering in the Mensalão process, was a direct beneficiary of the R$104 million embezzled.

The Federal Police investigation into Operation Transparency, launched in December 2025, points out that Valdemar “had the autonomy to direct amendment resources according to his personal and private quota, assigned based on his status as president of the party”.

According to the PF, the direction of the amendments was operated by Mariângela Fialek, known as “Tuca”, former advisor to the federal deputy and former president of the Chamber Arthur Lira (PP-AL).

She worked in Lira's office between March 2021 and the beginning of 2025, when she began to work in the leadership of Progressistas in the Chamber.

The main target of Operation Transparency, Mariângela had her cell phone analyzed by the Federal Police. The corporation claims to have identified a “parallel decision-making arrangement” for the allocation of public resources, in which Valdemar would appear to be responsible for defining and relocating amendments.

“In the case analyzed, a non-parliamentary, impeached former deputy, president of an important Congress party, uses the services of Fialek and other employees of the Chamber of Deputies to allocate resources according to his interests, in unequivocal symptoms of committing the crimes of embezzlement”, wrote Dino.

“VCN” Spreadsheets Operation Transparency investigators reported to the minister that spreadsheets were prepared with direct indications of amendments attributed to Valdemar.

The documents were processed, analyzed and consolidated by employees of the Chamber of Deputies before being forwarded to the ministries.

According to the investigation, the amendments were registered in the name of federal deputies, who appeared formally responsible for the requests, although the definition of the allocation of resources came from Valdemar.

For the Federal Police, the procedure gave the appearance of legality to the indications made by the PL president.

"As can be seen, there is talk of a considerable volume of parliamentary amendments indicated by a person who does not hold a mandate. Although some spreadsheets did not allow the complete identification of the amounts allocated to the former deputy, some conversations indicate that the financial levels reserved for the person being investigated were absolutely significant", stated Dino.

In this context, the investigation mentions Nara Benedetti Nicolau Brum, a Chamber employee leading the PL. She is appointed as a central figure in the treatment and forwarding of the amendments attributed to Valdemar.

Based on the dialogues gathered during the operation, the PF states that Nara worked on the technical feasibility of the amendments and maintained frequent contact with Mariângela Fialek.

According to investigators, the server forwarded spreadsheets and requested changes to the destinations and thematic areas of the resources.

The Federal Police highlights that, in communications, Nara made recurring references to indications classified as being “from Valdemar” or “from VCN”, an abbreviation that, in the context of the messages, would be a reference to Valdemar Costa Neto.

These mentions were associated with significant values and specific demands in the areas of health, tourism and sport, mainly aimed at municipalities in São Paulo.

Moraes and Dino give TJs 2 days to explain violation of STF order on pendants

Ministers demanded that courts in seven states report payments made in non-compliance with the STF's decision that prohibited pendulous payments above the limit of 70% of the ceiling, and threatened to depose presidents who did not provide information or violated the rules