Brazil's Maranhão Governor Carlos Brandão blames STF actions on split with Minister Flávio Dino

Governor Carlos Brandão (MDB) said the recent STF actions in the “Tech Office” case are a consequence of his political break with Minister Flávio Dino’s group in Maranhão. He argued that the investigations targeting his former secretary Raimundo Cutrim and others are based on “manipulated narratives” that emerged after his distancing from Dino’s faction in 2024.

The probe relates to the 2022 murder of businessman João Bosco Sobrinho, which the STF is reviewing for possible links to an alleged bribe involving state audit court president Daniel Brandão, the governor’s nephew. Dino’s recent measures against Cutrim include home detention, search and seizure, and removal from office over alleged obstruction, citing an audio in which Cutrim is heard trying to influence family testimony.

A 2018 episode resurfaced where a police officer claimed pressure from Dino’s security secretary Jefferson Portela to name Cutrim in a plea bargain, prompting calls for a congressional inquiry into that allegation.