Bolsonaro's Party Created Phony Candidate To Pocket Public Campaign Funds

[Judi Lynn]

The candidate had only 274 votes and couldn't describe her campaign, for which she received US$ 107,000

Feb.11.2019 2:37PM

BRASÍLIA
A group of aides connected to the House Representative Luciano Bivar, head of president Bolsonaro's political party PSL, created a phony candidate to run for a Brazilian House seat for Pernambuco last year.

Only four days before the election, Maria de Lourdes Paixão received R$ 400,000 (US$ 107,000) in cash, from the party's portion of federal campaign funds.

Employed as a secretary at PSL's Pernambuco chapter, she received the third-largest amount of PSL campaign funds; the amount is more significant than the sum received by president Jair Bolsonaro and Representative Joice Hasselman (SP), who received over one million votes.

Her campaign accounts show that 95% of her campaign funds were spent printing flyers and stickers. Folha's reporters visited the address informed by the printing company both in the invoice and in its IRS registration and found out the company doesn't operate out of either place.

More:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2019/02/bolsonaros-party-created-phony-candidate-to-pocket-public-campaign-funds.shtml

[sandensea]

1. Resembles Macri's campaign donations laundering-via-identity theft scandal

From last year:

Judge Kreplak notes that the case isn't merely one of campaign finance violations - but involves identity theft, money laundering, and other potential charges.

La Plata, moreover, is the capital of Buenos Aires Province, in which Macri's right-wing 'Let's Change' coalition allegedly organized massive money laundering and identity theft schemes in 2015 and 2017 involving over 40 million pesos ($4.2 million at the time) in illegal campaign donations in 2015 alone.

In three separate cases filed since June 19, the courts are now investigating some 500 fake contributors to Macri’s 2015 presidential campaign and 1,500 fake contributors to the 2017 midterm elections in Buenos Aires Province - which 'Let's Change' narrowly won.

(from: https://www.democraticunderground.com/110863549)

Bolsonaro must have gotten the idea from his pal Macri - or Cheeto.

Thanks for digging this up, Judi. Though I doubt any charges will ever filed against Bolsonazi or his accomplices.