Federal Court dismisses action against Bolsonaro and former employee Wal do Açaí

The Federal Court of Brasília extinguished the administrative improbity action against Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and his former advisor Walderice Santos da Conceição, Wal do Açaí. The investigation dealt with the suspected use of ghost employees in the Chamber of Deputies.

The case was revealed by Folha. The filed request was made by the Federal Public Ministry, which can still appeal the decision. According to the MPF, Wal was appointed parliamentary secretary from February 2003 to August 2018 without having performed functions in Congress. The agency pointed out the atypical nature of the financial transactions and requested full compensation for the damage in the amount of R$280,273.44.

The judge responsible for the case, however, stated that he had not identified sufficient elements to continue with the process. In the decision, he states that appointment to committee positions is not restricted to the physical headquarters of Parliament, in Brasília, and can take place in the state of the deputy's representation.

The decision was made by the federal judge of the 6th Court of the Federal District Rodrigo Godoy Mendes and was given this Thursday (5). According to him, there is "no clear proof of fictitious appointment, diversion of function to domestic tasks, illicit occupation and effective damage to public coffers" and, therefore, the appropriate measure is the closure of the requests.

"There is no evidence in the case file of transfer of amounts from the servant to the co-defendant, misappropriation or any illicit sharing of remuneration. What is observed is the mere withdrawal in kind of the remuneration perceived to meet routine subsistence needs in a community lacking an in-person banking structure", says the magistrate.

Rodrigo Mendes also states that, in compliance with the decision of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), liability for administrative improbity requires proof of all types provided.

Suspicions about Wal arose in 2018 in a Folha report. At the time, the newspaper revealed that the former advisor worked in an açaí shop on the same street as the summer home of Jair Bolsonaro, at the time a federal deputy, in the small Historic Village of Mambucaba.

The official records of the Chamber of Deputies show that in these 15 years it underwent 26 changes of cabinet positions. In 2011 and 2012, he achieved better positions – there are 25 grades.

According to residents of the region, Wal also provided private services at Bolsonaro's house. According to residents of the region interviewed at the time, her husband, Edenilson, was the president's caretaker.

At the time, Bolsonaro was unable to detail the services provided by the advisor in the city. When asked what her job would be, she replied: "She reports any problem in the region to me or my chief of staff."

"There's no constant life to it. Is it all the time on the street? No. She reads the newspapers, follows what happens."