Cezinha de Madureira Says His Phone Was Stolen Three Days Before the Police Named Him
BRAZIL · INVESTIGATIONS
Key Facts
- —The operation Four search warrants on Monday, 14 September, authorised by Justice Flavio Dino.
- —The suspicions Influence peddling, trading on prestige, passive corruption and money laundering.
- —His status Searched, not arrested. No source reports any detention.
- —The alleged meeting He is said to have arranged a March 2025 meeting between Justice Mendonça and Daniel Vorcaro.
- —The message Police material quotes him writing to Vorcaro that the minister was already waiting.
- —The catch His stolen-phone account rests on his own videos. No police report has been confirmed.
He was not arrested. He is alleged to have arranged a meeting between a Supreme Court justice and a banker.
Federal police searched addresses linked to Cezinha de Madureira on Monday, 14 September 2026. The deputy had spent the weekend telling followers that his telephone had been stolen.
The sequence is unusual enough to state plainly. He published the theft account over the weekend, and the warrants came on Monday.
What the Operation Covers
The action is the third phase of an inquiry named Operation Transparency. It was authorised by Justice Flavio Dino of the Supreme Federal Court.
Four search and seizure warrants were issued. Cezinha de Madureira, a deputy for the Liberal Party in São Paulo, is among the targets.
The suspicions listed are influence peddling, trading on prestige, passive corruption and money laundering. The investigation concerns a group suspected of trading payments for influence over judicial decisions.
He was not arrested. Searching a deputy’s addresses and detaining him are separate acts, and only the first has happened.
His defence had not commented at the time of publication. Nothing here has been tested in court.
The Link to the Court Crisis
This is not a free-standing corruption case. It sits inside the affair that has consumed Brazil’s Supreme Court for a fortnight.
The deputy is a church leader and a figure in the evangelical parliamentary bloc. He is a political ally of Justice André Mendonça.
Mendonça is the justice who unsealed the police report that set off the crisis. He also ordered the removal of the federal police director-general on 8 September.
Police material alleges that the deputy arranged a private meeting in São Paulo on 14 March 2025. The participants named are Mendonça and Daniel Vorcaro, controller of the failed Banco Master.
He is quoted writing to Vorcaro that the minister was already waiting for him. The Portuguese phrase reported is direct and short.
The Stolen Telephone
His account is specific. He says the phone was taken on Friday, 11 September, on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo.
He says that within fifteen minutes the thieves had reached all his accounts and his credit card, and changed his messaging password. He made the claim in videos posted over the weekend.
The story originates with a Metropoles column published on Monday morning. Other Brazilian outlets have recycled it since.
No police report confirming the theft has been produced by any source. That absence is not evidence of anything, but it should be stated.
Two readings are available. A man genuinely robbed will say so, and a man expecting a search may also say so.
Nothing in the public record settles which applies. What can be reported is the order of events and who is asserting what.
Why the Phone Matters at All
Phones are the spine of this entire affair. The crisis began when a 218-page report drawn from Vorcaro’s phone was unsealed on 1 September.
On Sunday, Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered police to hand the underlying data to his chambers. It arrived on Monday morning.
Messages, not documents, are what the investigations have turned on. In that context a deputy’s account of losing his own device carries an obvious weight.
What Happens Next
An extraordinary plenary session of the Supreme Court is scheduled for Tuesday, 15 September, at 10 a.m. Brasília time. It concerns the removal of the police director-general.
Mendonça is reported to want his vote recorded early. That case and this operation are separate proceedings with overlapping cast members.
A federal deputy enjoys privileged jurisdiction, which is why a Supreme Court justice authorised the warrants rather than a trial judge. Any prosecution would also run through that court.
No charge has been filed. The investigation is at the evidence-gathering stage and could end without one.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Cezinha de Madureira arrested?
No. Police executed four search and seizure warrants on Monday, 14 September. No source reports any detention, and searching a deputy’s addresses is a separate act from arresting him.
What is he suspected of?
Influence peddling, trading on prestige, passive corruption and money laundering, within an inquiry into a group suspected of trading payments for influence over judicial decisions.
What is the connection to the Supreme Court crisis?
He is an ally of Justice André Mendonça and is alleged to have arranged a March 2025 meeting between Mendonça and the controller of the failed Banco Master.
Is the stolen phone claim verified?
No. It rests on his own weekend videos and a Monday newspaper column. No confirmed police report has been produced by any source.
Who authorised the operation?
Justice Flavio Dino of the Supreme Federal Court. A federal deputy holds privileged jurisdiction, so warrants against him are issued by that court rather than a trial judge.
Sources: Revista Forum, Diario do Centro do Mundo and the Metropoles column of Igor Gadelha, all of 14 September 2026.
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