Hacker Threatened to "Disgrace" President Temer by Disclosing Audio Recording

02/13/2017 - 07h36

An audio recording used by a hacker to try to extort money from Brazil's first lady, Marcela Temer, in April last year, would "disgrace" the then-vice president Michel Temer, according to threats made by the criminal.

The recording was illegally taken from Marcela Temer's cell phone after it was cloned by the hacker Silvonei de Jesus Souza, and appeared in a voice message sent by WhatsApp originally to her brother, Karlo Augusto Araújo.

All content in the cell phone as well as Marcela Temer's email accounts were stolen by Souza.

"So, as I found this video [in fact, an audio recording] that will disgrace the name of your husband [Michel Temer]. When you said that he has a spin doctor that does all the dirty work I thought I could profit some money from that!!!," the hacker wrote to Marcela in a message, demanding R$ 300,000 to keep the file confidential.

Folha verified that the "spin doctor" who the hacker refers to is Arlon Viana, an advisor to Michel Temer, cited in the conversation between the first lady and her brother.

In October, the hacker was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison for larceny by fraud and extortion. He is currently serving in the city of Tremembé (SP).

"I have a list of reporters who offered R$ 100,000 each for the material," Souza said in another message sent to Marcela. The text messages exchanged between the hacker and Marcela are in the proceedings against him - the secrecy on the files was lifted recently.

"Do you think that it really would harm anyone? So, you want money for that recording?" answered the first lady, adding that she was "a good person" and the audio was "fake."

To that, the hacker answered: "You know that it is not fake, there are no cuts. It is your voice and you identified yourself; you said you studied at Porfírio. There is no way of making a fake recording like that," said Souza. The General Porfírio da Paz school is where Marcela studied when she was a child in the city of Paulínia (SP).

The case was widely covered by the press, however focus fell on the blackmail to avoid pictures of Marcela's relatives from being disclosed as they were also in the cell phone cloned.

In the extortion process, the pictures are mentioned by Marcela in a statement, but attention was given to the audio recording - the target of the threats she suffered. The first lady told the police that the recording was about "normal things of the city [Paulínia]".

Karlo Augusto, as he is known in Paulínia, was preparing his candidacy to run for city councilor for the PSDC, but gave up after the case.

None of the files taken from the cell phone are in the investigation proceedings. Folha verified that the recording was heard by few people directly connected to the investigation and was not sent to the Criminal Investigation Institute, responsible for the expert's report.

The case was treated with major discretion by São Paulo authorities. At the request of Michel and Marcela Temer, their names were changed in the proceedings for "Tango" and "Mike", respectively.

In the proceedings, the first lady's brother was addressed as "Kilo". Changing names is common practice in cases in which the victims need protection.

Under the command of the then-Secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, Alexandre de Moraes, currently Minister of Justice on leave and appointed by Temer to become a Supreme Court Justice, the São Paulo Police
Department created a task force comprised of five sheriffs, 25 investigators and three experts to arrest the hacker.

OUT OF CONTEXT

In its answer to questions asked by Folha, the press office of the Presidency of the Republic said the sentence in which the hacker says that he will "disgrace" Temer is "out of context, mixing different subjects and references for the purposes of blackmail and extortion."

The press office added that the first lady "will no longer comment on the content of the recording, which has been used for criminal purposes and led to final conviction in the judicial sphere."

The press office also said that "the Carolina Dieckmann law preserves the rights to privacy of those who had their personal information violated digitally.'"

(REYNALDO TUROLLO JR., THAIS ARBEX, ROGERIO PAGNAN, CAMILA MATTOSO AND MARINA DIAS)