Police indict Bolsonaro in vaccine certification fraud probe

Tuesday, March 19th 2024 - 18:35 UTC

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The Public Prosecutor's Office must now decide whether to press charges against Bolsonaro

Brazil's Federal Police (PF) Tuesday indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly forging his Covid-19 vaccination records. The case now goes to the Public Prosecutor's Office for a final decision on whether or not to press formal charges against the former head of state, his then aide-de-camps Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, and Congressman Gutemberg Reis as well as 14 other people listed in the investigation.

Bolsonaro and members of his family are believed to have falsely entered information into the Health Ministry's database to obtain proof of vaccination to be granted entry into the United States. The retired Army captain has denied asking for such “favors” and claimed he found out about the case when it came out in the press. Bolsonaro has also denied ever taking the Covid-19 vaccine. He repeatedly dismissed the importance of vaccines and social distancing measures during the pandemic despite Covid-19 killing over 700,000 people while his administration ignored several emails from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer offering to sell millions of doses.

Last year, the PF seized Bolsonaro's mobile phone and other items during a raid at his home as part of the investigation into the case.

Cid's wife, Gabriela Santiago admitted that she had used a fake vaccination certificate against Covid-19 and blamed her husband for the fraud. Cid's three daughters as well as Bolsonaro's 12-year-old daughter are believed to have obtained these forged documents. Cid was arrested in May and has also been formally accused in the police report.

The seal of secrecy on the PF file was lifted Tuesday (19) by Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre De Moraes after parts of it were published by G1 earlier in the day. The magistrate argued that there was “no longer any need” to maintain secrecy.

“The evidence collected throughout this investigation is convergent in demonstrating that Jair Messias Bolsonaro acted with conscience and will in determining that his Chief of Staff intermediated the insertion of false Covid-19 vaccination data into the Ministry of Health's systems for the benefit of himself and his daughter,” the PF report states.

Bolsonaro left for the US with his family and aides on December 30, after losing the 2022 presidential election. According to PF Chief Fábio Alvarez Shor, Bolsonaro needed a fake vaccination card to be allowed to enter the United States while he waited for the outcome of the doomed Jan. 8, 2023 coup d'état.

According to Brazil's Health Ministry-issued vaccination card, Bolsonaro was vaccinated on July 19, 2021, at the Parque Peruche Basic Health Unit (UBS), north of São Paulo. However, Bolsonaro was not in São Paulo on that date and the vaccination batch listed in the Ministry's system was not available on that date at the facility where the immunization allegedly took place.