Three candidates for councilor are being investigated for corruption and electoral coercion in the city of Belford Roxo, in Baixada Fluminense.
An operation by the Electoral Public Prosecutor’s Office, through the 153rd and 154th Electoral Prosecutor’s Offices of Belford Roxo, carried out 14 search and seizure warrants this Friday morning (4).
Six orders aim to investigate crimes of electoral corruption through a scheme to buy the resignation of candidates for councilors by competing politicians.
The MPE received information that they were abandoning their candidacies in exchange for financial compensation from members of the city’s rival political group.
According to investigations, after receiving the money, the candidates withdrew from the electoral race and started supporting opposition candidates on social media.
The other eight warrants seek to investigate crimes of electoral coercion against a councilor running for re-election in Belford Roxo. Members of a militia that operates in the Xavantes neighborhood are also targets of the operation.
Regarding the crime of coercion, the ministry received a complaint that the militia group was forcing voters in the region to vote for the candidate being investigated. In return, the militiamen gained protection from the parliamentarian.
In the action, two people were arrested for illegal possession of a firearm, one of them being a member of the Xavantes criminal group. The agents also seized almost R$55,000 from the possession of a councilor.
The prisoners were taken to the 54th DP (Belford Roxo). The search and seizure requests were granted by the 154th Electoral Court of RJ.
The MPE operation had the support of the Security and Intelligence Coordination of the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (CSI/MPRJ).
This content was originally published in Councilor candidates are investigated for corruption and electoral coercion in RJ on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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