Brazil Supreme Court Refuses Search Warrant for Bahia Candidate
Brazil · Politics
Key Facts
- —What happened Justice Kássio Nunes Marques refused a police request for a search warrant against ACM Neto, while authorising 24 others.
- —Who he is Antônio Carlos Magalhães Neto, former mayor of Salvador, is the União Brasil candidate for governor of Bahia on 4 October 2026.
- —Who the judge is Nunes Marques is the Supreme Court rapporteur supervising Operation Overclean, drawn to the inquiry in January 2025.
- —The catch A refused warrant is not an acquittal. Overclean continues, the decision is sealed, and no charge against him has been announced.
- —What he says ACM Neto says he has no relation with the facts under investigation, and calls the leaks an orchestrated action.
- —A separate matter A Banco Master plea bargain naming him was rejected by both the federal police and the prosecutor-general.
The Nunes Marques ACM Neto decision refused one warrant. The same justice authorised 24 other searches in the same Operation Overclean phase on 17 September 2026.
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice authorised 24 search warrants in a corruption inquiry on 17 September 2026. The Nunes Marques ACM Neto decision refused the one aimed at a candidate for governor.
Antônio Carlos Magalhães Neto, known as ACM Neto, is the União Brasil candidate for governor of Bahia. The northeastern state votes on 4 October 2026.
He is a former mayor of Salvador and his party’s national vice-president, and holds no elected office now.
Justice Kássio Nunes Marques supervises the whole investigation at the Supreme Federal Court. The office of the prosecutor-general had supported the refused request, Bahia Notícias reported.
The sweep the justice did approve
The warrants were executed on 17 September 2026, in Overclean’s tenth phase. They covered six states: Minas Gerais, Bahia, São Paulo, Tocantins, Paraná and Espírito Santo.
Those searched included Bruno Barral, the businessman José Marcos Moura and Alex Parente. Only the measure against ACM Neto was turned down.
The refusal became public that day, as the phase was executed. The decision is under seal, CNN Brasil reported, and its date is not public.
Bahia Notícias, citing the UOL columnist Natália Portinari, said the justice found no legal basis for the measure. His office declined to comment, Jornal Passaporte reported.
The police asked for the warrant early this year, before the electoral period, CNN Brasil reported. The prosecutor-general’s supporting opinion came then too.
What Operation Overclean is examining
Overclean is a federal police investigation into public money diverted through contracts and parliamentary amendments. Parliamentary amendments are funds that individual lawmakers direct to their home regions.
One strand concerns possible fraud in contracts signed in 2024 and 2025 by a municipal secretary in Belo Horizonte. That city is the capital of Minas Gerais.
Three of them together exceed R$80 million (about US$15.6 million) at the commercial rate of R$5.14 to US$1 on 18 September 2026. The police say the true total is higher, with other procurements still under examination.
The wider inquiry spans 2018 to 2024 across five states, Poder360 reported. It touches people connected to eight political parties.
What the police alleged about the candidate
In a sealed filing, the police said ACM Neto had indicated “the then education secretary of Salvador, Bruno Barral”. The post in question was the equivalent job in Belo Horizonte.
The purpose, in the police account, was “to close contracts with the investigated group”. They also cited “frequent contacts between ACM Neto and businessman José Marcos Moura”.
Barral was ACM Neto’s education secretary in Salvador from 2017 to 2020, then took the same post in Belo Horizonte. He was dismissed in April 2025, after an earlier Overclean phase.
CNN Brasil reported that the police treat ACM Neto as the principal subject in this phase, in a sealed filing. Brasil 247 confines that police label to the Belo Horizonte education-contracts front.
Why the case is at the Supreme Court
ACM Neto has no privileged forum of his own. The inquiry sits at the Supreme Court because of someone else.
Federal deputy Elmar Nascimento, of União Brasil, is covered by foro privilegiado. That rule sends cases touching sitting members of Congress to the top court.
Nunes Marques was drawn as rapporteur in January 2025. A rapporteur supervises the inquiry and rules on the measures the police request.
A refusal decides one investigative step, and is not an acquittal or a finding about the allegations.
Overclean continues, and the searches the justice approved went ahead. Being named as a subject of an inquiry is not a criminal charge.
The Banco Master allegations are a separate matter
A second set of claims has circulated in Bahia this month, from a different case entirely. It concerns Banco Master, whose former owner Daniel Vorcaro is held in pre-trial detention.
Vorcaro proposed a plea bargain naming ACM Neto and Antônio Rueda, O Povo reported on 11 September 2026. He alleged the two “received 10% of the values” that pension funds put into the bank.
That would imply up to R$200 million (about US$38.9 million) in commissions. He never specified payments actually made.
It was his third such proposal, and both the federal police and the prosecutor-general rejected it. A second had been rejected in June 2026.
They found it lacked new information and offered insufficient guarantees on returning assets. His defence asked the court to revoke his detention on 18 September 2026.
ACM Neto called those accusations “absurd, completely fantastical and lying”. Rueda said he had no access to the document and that his contracts were legitimate legal services.
Federal deputy Alice Portugal, of the PCdoB in Bahia, demanded an investigation on 10 September 2026. She cited the Banco Master claims and a reported payment of R$3.6 million (about US$700,000).
The warrant the justice refused belongs to Overclean, not to the Banco Master case. Robinson Almeida, a PT state deputy in Bahia, linked the two publicly after the request emerged.
What ACM Neto said
ACM Neto issued written statements on 17 and 18 September 2026, carried by CNN Brasil, O Povo and Poder360. He described an “orchestrated action” to interfere in the elections.
“The courts prevented a new episode of this plot from prospering,” he said, affirming his “clean campaign”.
In a written note he said he had “no relation with the investigated facts”. The decision, he said, showed the “inconsistency” of police suspicions.
Júlio Pinheiro, a PT candidate for state deputy and former mayor of Amargosa, wants him to waive bank and tax secrecy. “If there is nothing to hide, open the seals,” he said.
What it means before the vote
Bahia chooses a governor on 4 October 2026, and the inquiry did not end with the refusal. The judge declined one measure, and made no finding on guilt or innocence.
More: Brazil coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is ACM Neto?
Antônio Carlos Magalhães Neto, universally called ACM Neto, is a former mayor of Salvador and national vice-president of União Brasil. He holds no elected office and is a candidate for governor of Bahia in the election of 4 October 2026. CNN Brasil reported that the federal police treat him as the principal subject in this phase of Operation Overclean, in a filing that remains sealed. He says he has no relation with the facts under investigation.
Does the refusal mean ACM Neto is cleared?
No. A refused search warrant is a ruling that one investigative measure did not meet the legal threshold. It is not an acquittal, not a dismissal of the case, and not a finding about the allegations. The same justice authorised 24 other searches in the same phase, Operation Overclean continues, and no criminal charge against him has been announced.
What is Operation Overclean?
It is a federal police investigation into public money diverted through contracts and parliamentary amendments, now in its tenth phase. One strand concerns contracts signed by a municipal secretary in Belo Horizonte in 2024 and 2025, three of which together exceed R$80 million (about US$15.6 million), with the police saying the true total is higher. The inquiry spans 2018 to 2024 across five states and touches people connected to eight political parties. The tenth phase was executed on 17 September 2026 in six states.
Is this the Banco Master case?
No. The warrant refused in the Nunes Marques ACM Neto decision was sought in Operation Overclean. The Banco Master claims came from a proposed plea bargain by Daniel Vorcaro, the bank’s former owner, who is held in pre-trial detention; O Povo reported the proposal on 11 September 2026. It was his third, and both the federal police and the prosecutor-general rejected it for lacking new information and for insufficient guarantees on returning assets. ACM Neto called the accusations absurd and lying.
Sources: Poder360 on the refused warrant and the candidate’s response, Bahia Notícias on the prosecutor-general’s support for the request, CNN Brasil on the sealed decision and the police allegations, Jornal Passaporte on the contracts and parliamentary amendments under investigation, O Povo on the Banco Master plea bargain proposal, Jornal Grande Bahia on the political crossfire in Bahia, O Tempo on Vorcaro’s pre-trial detention, InfoMoney on the commercial dollar rate used here
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