Rio de Janeiro:
Brazilian police raided the home and offices of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s son Carlos on Monday amid accusations of illegal espionage during his father’s term as president.
Federal police said they had issued nine search and seizure warrants in the latest phase of an investigation into “a criminal organization set up by the Brazilian Intelligence Service (Abin) to illegally spy on public officials and others”.
A police source told AFP that Carlos, a Rio de Janeiro city councilor and the second of Bolsonaro’s four sons, was one of the targets.
The investigation, which involves accusations that Abin illegally tracked the geolocation data of hundreds of Bolsonaro’s perceived opponents during his term as president (2019-2022), has reached close to the heart of the far-right former president. circle.
Last Thursday, police also raided the home and offices of Bolsonaro’s former intelligence chief and ex-Abin director, Alexandre Ramajim, who is now a federal lawmaker for the former president’s Liberal party.
Police said they were now investigating the alleged “political core” of a domestic espionage ring, identifying “the main recipients and beneficiaries of information illegally generated through covert operations within the territory of Abin”.
Carlos Bolsonaro’s home and office in Rio’s city hall were searched in a raid, Brazilian media reported.
Police said they were also targeting addresses in the capital Brasilia and in the resort town of Angra dos Reis, 150 kilometers (95 miles) west of Rio.
Globo News television footage showed the 68-year-old former president and 41-year-old Carlos Bolsonaro outside a house in Angra dos Reis as federal officials left.
Investigators accuse Abin of using Israeli-made surveillance software called FirstMile, which tracks cellphone geolocation data, to spy on figures including a Supreme Court justice, a former House speaker and others.
Bolsonaro’s party leader Valdemar Costa Neto called the investigation a “witch hunt.”
Bolsonaro has faced growing legal troubles since losing to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022.
Court documents in the illegal espionage case also name Bolsonaro’s two other sons.
Investigators say the espionage was aimed at helping Bolsonaro’s son, Senator Flavio, thwart a corruption investigation and another son, Jair Renan, An investigation into influence peddling.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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