Brazilian Police Seize Phone and Laptop from Ex-Chief of Staff of Deputy Mario Frias

By Daniel Okafor

Brazil's Federal Police seized a mobile phone and a laptop on Friday, December 13, from Raphael Augusto Azevedo, the former chief of staff to federal deputy Mario Frias (PL-SP). The search-and-seizure operation in Brasília forms part of the second phase of Operation Make Up, which investigates the diversion of parliamentary budget amendments (public funds earmarked by legislators) to finance Dark Horse, a biographical film about Jair Bolsonaro.

Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino authorized the raid. Azevedo had already been a target of the operation's first phase, launched on September 10, but agents had failed to locate him at the time. This time they found him, and his electronics.

What does the investigation allege?

The Federal Police says the probe covers embezzlement (peculato, the theft of public funds by officials), money laundering, criminal organization, document fraud and bidding-related crimes. The inquiry maps transfers from Bolsonarist lawmakers to cultural entities tied to the production company Go Up Entertainment, run by Karina Gama, the producer behind the film. Named organizations include the Instituto Conhecer Brasil (ICB) and the Academia Nacional de Cultura.

According to the force, the criminal organization comprised public officials and private actors who channelled money to subcontracted firms with no proof that services were ever delivered. Financial surveys identified movements of hundreds of millions of reais among the companies under investigation. That is a lot of film for money that never bought a frame.

What did Justice Dino say?

Justice Dino stated that the evidence gathered strengthens the hypothesis of a sophisticated diversion scheme. He indicated that Frias, who worked as screenwriter and executive producer on the film, would have played a leadership role in the criminal architecture. It's a pointed word choice — architecture implies design, not accident.

In a filing to the Supreme Court, the deputy denied any wrongdoing. Frias said the amendments sent to the NGOs had a social character. The justice apparently disagrees, at least as a working hypothesis.

What about the rachadinha angle?

Azevedo also appears in separate inquiries into an alleged salary-splitting scheme (rachadinha, the practice of elected officials pocketing part of staffers' pay). Bank records showed that a former Frias employee paid personal expenses of the politician's family and made Pix transfers to the ex-chief of staff. The paper trail, as ever, does the talking.

Who else is under scrutiny?

A second inquiry at the Supreme Court, overseen by Justice André Mendonça, examines the capital contribution of banker Daniel Vorcaro of Banco Master. That investigation involves Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) and indicates Vorcaro committed to injecting R$ 134 million into the production. Of that sum, R$ 65 million allegedly went abroad via investment funds and holding companies.

The figure matters. R$ 134 million is roughly the budget of a mid-tier international production, not a modest domestic biopic — and prosecutors will want to know why so much of it travelled offshore.

What comes next?

Both inquiries remain before the Supreme Court, with Dino's operation now in its second phase and Mendonça's capital probe running in parallel. With hundreds of millions of reais in traced movements, two sitting legislators implicated and a sitting deputy formally accused of leadership, Operation Make Up has moved from fund-tracking to people-finding — and Azevedo's seized devices will likely supply the next chapter.