The three PSL candidates suspected of being phantom candidates in Pernambuco denied that they participated in funding irregularities. They said that the printers appearing in the accounts performed the commissioned work and that the election material made with public money helped boost the candidacy of President Jair Bolsonaro (PSL).
One of the women said that every day a container of graphic material left the party headquarters to be distributed throughout the state, "as all party candidates produced material for Jair Bolsonaro."
A former Pernambuco PSL leader acted as the interlocutor between the party at the state level and the Bolsonaro national campaign said that when campaign material needed to be produced, either for Bolsonaro or deputy candidates, he asked the assistants of Luciano Bivar, federal deputy and president of the PSL.
The three candidates are being investigated for receiving R$ 781.6 thousand in public money from PSL despite no effective campaign signs, revealed by Folha in February.
Sought by Folha, Planalto Palace said it would not comment on the case.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon