Brazil Supreme Court freezes R$119 million of PL leader Valdemar Costa Neto’s assets
Supreme Court minister Flávio Dino ordered the blocking of up to R$119 million in assets belonging to Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the Liberal Party (PL). The measure is part of Operation Transparência, a Federal Police probe into a scheme that allegedly used three Chamber of Deputies staff – Mariângela Fialek, Nara Brum and Garigham Amarante Pinto – to register parliamentary amendments in the names of legislators while Costa Neto, who holds no elected mandate, directed the allocations. Investigators identified 21 irregular amendments between 2024 and 2026, totaling R$119 million, including a R$24 million tourism allocation to Porto Seguro and other funds to municipalities such as Suzano, Mogi das Cruzes and Rio de Janeiro. The STF also suspended execution of those amendments to safeguard possible restitution. Costa Neto’s defense denies any wrongdoing and plans to appeal the decision.