The Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, faces an investigation into his accounts and in his assets by a São Paulo court. Salles is the target of a Supreme Court investigation that involves suspicions about the financial movement of the law firm of which he is a partner,
The São Paulo Prosecutor's Office has found an equity jump of R$ 7.4 million (US$ 1.4 million) from Salles over six years.
Waiting for bank information from all those involved to proceed with the investigation that seeks to clarify signs of illicit enrichment by Salles, investigators in the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office estimate that the front opened by the Federal Police in the STF investigation will help to boost the case.
Salles, his mother, and the law firm had their banking and tax records opened by court order.
To the Supreme, the PF pointed to suspicious financial operations by Salles from the same office during the period in which he holds the position of minister in the Bolsonaro government.
Between 2012 and mid-2020, the office moved R$ 14.1 million (US$ 2.6 million), according to a report by the Financial Activities Control Council sent to the STF.
About R$ 2.8 million (US$ 530.000) were transferred by the office to the minister's account between 2012 and 2017.
According to Salles' staff, his patrimonial evolution and fees "were declared by the minister himself in his Income Tax, with no irregularities."
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon