Analysis: Bolsonaro Family’s Ghost Employees Earned R$29.5 Million in Salaries

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The complex organization of the Bolsonaro family‘s government staff employees suggests a long tradition of filling commissioned positions with employees who were not always on duty at their places of work.

Research conducted by ÉPOCA sheds light on these actions and their figures, which are now on the investigators’ desks. Of the total amount paid to the 286 staff that President Jair Bolsonaro and his three eldest sons hired in their legislative staff cabinets between 1991 and 2019, 28 percent was deposited in the accounts of employees with indications of not having actually worked.

It seems as if of each R$4 paid, more than R$1 would reach the hands of people who today, in the vast majority, are under investigation for returning part of their salaries to their bosses. There is evidence that at least 39 of them have not actually worked in their positions – 13 percent of the total.

While being paid as employees, these professionals had other occupations such as hairdresser, veterinarian, nanny, and personal trainer, as is the case of Nathalia Queiroz, daughter of Fabrício Queiroz, identified by the Prosecutor’s Office (MP) as an operator of the salary kickback scheme in Flávio’s staff. Together, the 39 were paid a total of R$16.7 million in gross wages (the equivalent of R$29.5 million in figures corrected for inflation in the period) during the time they worked with the family.

Among the group of people who were listed as advisors, where there is evidence that they did not work in these positions, 17 were filled exclusively in Flávio Bolsonaro’s staff and another ten in Carlos’ staff, both of which are targets of investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office. In the office of then federal deputy Jair Bolsonaro, three employees are on the list. There are another nine who passed through several of the clan’s cabinets, part of the modus operandi currently established by the public prosecutors.

Márcia Aguiar, Queiroz’s wife, and Nathália Queiroz are two of the most remarkable cases since investigations began. Márcia declared herself a hairdresser in judicial documents in 2008 and Nathalia is known among actors and personalities for her work as a personal trainer. Each of the two was paid a total of R$1.3 million over a decade, updated by inflation, but never had an identifying employees’ badge at the Rio state legislature (ALERJ).

However, the majority of cases are in the family of Ana Cristina Valle, Jair Bolsonaro’s ex-wife. Most of them are under investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office in cases involving either Flávio or Carlos. In Flavio’s case, with ten advisors who are relatives of Ana Cristina, the MP discovered that they drew up to 90 percent of their wages in the period in which they were listed as civil servants, in a total of R$4 million.

The story of Andrea Siqueira Valle, sister of Ana Cristina and Bolsonaro’s ex-sister-in-law, is the most extreme case. Among the group, she is the one who was paid the most.

Among Jair, Carlos, and Flávio‘s cabinets, Andrea added 20 years of commissioned positions and was paid R$1.2 million (R$ 2.25 million, corrected by inflation) in gross salary. A bodybuilder, she maintained a workout routine two to three times a day at the Physical Form gym. During breaks, she worked as a housecleaner and lived in a home built at the back of the home where her parents live. But she continued to work as a cleaner and with great financial hardship.

“She also helped me with cleaning at the gym. She does this kind of service here at the gym,” said Renata Mendes, owner of the new gym that Andrea used to attend in Guarapari, Espírito Santo. Questioned, she said she would not comment.

Them comes Francisco Siqueira Guimarães Diniz, 36 years old, a cousin of Ana Cristina. He was only 21 years old when he was appointed in 2003 and he was employed in Flávio’s cabinet for 14 years. He was paid a total of R$1.2 million – R$ 1.95 million, corrected by inflation. In 2005, he started to attend the Veterinary Medicine College at the Barra Mansa University Center, a city 140 kilometers from Rio, near Resende where the AMAN military academy is located.

It was a full course and he graduated in 2008. In 2016 he worked for H.G.VET Comércio de Produtos Agropecuários e Veterinários. Despite being assigned for over a decade, he only had an employee’s badge in the last two months of employment in 2017. Questioned, Diniz said he worked for Flávio, but could not remember for how long.

Housewife Ana Maria Siqueira Hudson, Ana Cristina’s aunt, comes next. She was appointed to Flávio’s office staff in 2005 and was there until mid-2018. She earned a total of R$1.22 million (R$1.85 million corrected for inflation). During this time, she always lived in Resende and, for a while, looked after a decorations store. She is the mother of Guilherme de Siqueira Hudson, who was Carlos’ chief of staff for ten years when he also lived in Resende and did not even have a city council badge. Both are under investigation by the MP.

Marta Vale, Ana Cristina’s sister-in-law, is also on the list. She has always lived in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, and was Carlos Bolsonaro’s advisor in the Rio de Janeiro City Council between 2001 and 2009. She never had an employee badge and, questioned by ÉPOCA last year, said she never worked for Carlos. She was paid R$550,000 in salaries (R$1.2 million corrected for inflation). Today she is under investigation in the MP proceeding involving the President’s #2 son.

Another case that draws attention to Carlos’ cabinet staff concerns Andrea da Cruz Martins. She was employed from 2005 until February 2019. However, in November 2013, when Andrea entered her wedding documents at the Nova Iguaçu notary office in Baixada Fluminense, she identified herself as a “babysitter”. She was paid a total of R$1.26 million (R$1.83 million corrected for inflation). Questioned at her family home, relatives said they do not know where she lives. Andrea is under investigation by the MP in Carlos’ case.

In Santa Cruz, a neighborhood in Rio’s West Zone, lives another family that leads the ranking of appointed relatives and of amounts received in the Bolsonaro family’s cabinets. Edir and Neula Góes live there. She was Carlos’ advisor between 2001 and February this year. He has served since 2008. He has been paid a total of R$1.3 million (R$1.7 million corrected for inflation) – Neula was paid R$956,000 (R$1.5 million today).

Marcia Salgado Oliveira, aunt of Jorge Oliveira, of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, was listed in ALERJ records as Flávio’s employee between 2003 and February 2019. However, in 2014, in a lawsuit brought before the Special Court of the District of Mesquita, a city in Baixada Fluminense north of Rio, when she sued a telephone company, Márcia submitted a written power of attorney in which she stated that her occupation was “housewife”. Moreover, in 16 years, she never had a badge issued by ALERJ. She was paid a total of R$1 million (R$1.6 million corrected for inflation). Questioned, she would not comment.

Source: Época