Federal Police formally accuse Rio governor of corruption

Brazil’s Federal Police have recommended that Governor Cláudio Castro of Rio de Janeiro face corruption and embezzlement charges. He allegedly committed the crimes while serving as a city councilor and lieutenant governor. The feds say Mr. Castro pocketed around BRL 400,000 (USD 71,000) in bribes between 2017 and 2019. During that period, he served as […]

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Brazil’s Federal Police have recommended that Governor Cláudio Castro of Rio de Janeiro face corruption and embezzlement charges. He allegedly committed the crimes while serving as a city councilor and lieutenant governor.

The feds say Mr. Castro pocketed around BRL 400,000 (USD 71,000) in bribes between 2017 and 2019. During that period, he served as city councilor and later lieutenant governor to Wilson Witzel, who also faces corruption allegations and was impeached in 2021.

The recommendation was made earlier this month, but only revealed by the news website Uol on Tuesday. For Mr. Castro to face trial, the Federal Prosecution Office must bring these charges forward, and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Brazil’s second-highest judicial body, must accept them.

The Federal Prosecution Office can also request that the investigations continue or that the case be closed.

Mr. Castro took over the Rio de Janeiro government after Mr. Witzel’s impeachment and was re-elected in 2022. Six former governors of Rio de Janeiro have already been investigated for graft, and five of them have been arrested in recent years. In a notorious case, Sérgio Cabral, for example, was sentenced to more than 400 years in prison and served six years in jail.

The evidence against Mr. Castro includes allegations made by a former aide, who signed a plea bargaining deal, and an image in which Mr. Castro carries a backpack shortly after meeting with a businessman. According to the feds, the backpack contained a bribe in cash. The businessman was arrested the day after the meeting.

In late 2023, the police raided a home belonging to Mr. Castro’s brother and found BRL 128,000 and USD 7,500 in cash, in addition to spreadsheets detailing payments to members of the graft scheme.

Mr. Castro’s defense says it will ask the STJ to nullify the Federal Police conclusions, citing problems with how evidence was collected. The lawyers also complain that the governor was not called to testify and that the investigation’s report was made public despite the case being sealed.

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