Brazil police probe Bolsonaro’s ex-intel chief for illegal spying

Alexandre Ramagem, then-director general of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN), is pictured during an event at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, on December 16, 2020 – Copyright AFP EVARISTO SA

Joshua Howat Berger

Brazilian police raided the home and offices of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s ex-intelligence chief Thursday in an investigation into accusations of illegal spying on behalf of the far-right leader and his inner circle.

Officials said police had executed search and seizure warrants targeting 12 suspects, including Alexandre Ramagem, the former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin), who is now a federal lawmaker for Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.

The raids were authorized by Supreme Court justice and electoral court chief Alexandre de Moraes, who was himself an alleged target of the spying.

“Federal police have identified the existence of a criminal organization set up to illegally monitor individuals and public authorities… without judicial authorization,” the Supreme Court said in a statement.

Police said they had executed search and seizure warrants at 21 locations in the capital, Brasilia, the southeastern state of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, Ramagem’s hometown, where Bolsonaro is backing Ramagem as a mayoral candidate in elections this October.

“Investigations indicate a criminal group created a parallel structure within Abin and used its tools and services for illicit acts, producing information for political and media purposes, for personal gain and to interfere in federal police investigations,” police said in a statement.

According to court documents, investigators allege Abin used Israeli surveillance software known as FirstMile, which tracks cell phone geolocation data, to spy on hundreds of politicians and other figures during Bolsonaro’s presidency (2019-2022).

Suspected targets of the alleged illegal spying included Moraes, fellow Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes, former lower-house speaker Rodrigo Maia and then-Ceara state governor Camilo Santana, who is now President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s education minister.

– ‘Pure persecution’ –

Ramagem, 51, said police had seized computers and phones from his residence in Brasilia.

He denied FirstMile was misused under his watch to track the whereabouts of perceived adversaries of Bolsonaro and his sons.

“To be clear, this tool is legal within Abin, its use is legal. It was sold to various institutions in Brazil, including at the state level. Why are we being investigated?” he said in an interview with TV channel GloboNews.

Liberal Party leader Valdemar Costa Neto called the investigation “persecution” against Bolsonaro and the party.

“This is pure persecution, and may just end up getting Ramagem elected (mayor) more easily in Rio de Janeiro,” he said in a statement.

The alleged illegal spying also purportedly aimed to help Bolsonaro’s son Flavio, a senator, fight off a corruption investigation. He called the allegation a “lie.”

Ramagem acknowledged he had a close relationship with Flavio Bolsonaro, but said any Abin activities involving the president’s sons were strictly limited to the agency’s role in providing security for the first family.

Seven federal police officers were also suspended from duty over their suspected involvement in the alleged illegal spying, police said.

Bolsonaro, 68, has faced mounting legal trouble since losing a divisive election to veteran leftist Lula in 2022.

In June, the electoral court barred the former army captain from running for public office for eight years over his unproven fraud allegations against Brazil’s voting system.

He also faces various investigations for corruption and abuse of office.