Representative Sóstenes Cavalcante (RJ), leader of the PL in the Chamber of Deputies, denied this Friday (19) having committed any offense related to embezzlement of office funds and said that the R$400,000 in cash found at his residence came from the sale of a property. 
“There’s nothing about an illicit contract. There’s nothing about money laundering,” said the congressman at a press conference in the Green Room of the Chamber of Deputies, referring to the suspicions raised by the Federal Police (PF) in relation to contracts for renting cars for his office.
Regarding the money found in a plastic bag inside a closet in Sóstenes’ house, the deputy said that its legal origin will be proven by his lawyers and that the entire path of the money is registered.
When asked, Sóstenes said he did not remember when the property was sold or how long he had kept the cash at home. “With this rush of work I ended up not making the deposit”, explained the parliamentarian. “No one takes illicit money and puts it in the house”, added the PL leader.
He also refused to reveal where the property sold is located, citing the privacy of the transaction. Regarding rented cars, he stated that he uses the vehicles, which is why there could be no talk of money laundering. “The car has always been here, just look at the cameras to look for it and see if I’m placing a contract for illicit compensation.”
Asked about the rental company contracted by the office, which does not appear to work at the address declared in the contracts, Sóstenes replied that he did not know the details about the contracts. “The only guidance I give to my team is to keep the price low, I don’t want to overprice,” he said.
The deputy said that the investigation against him is “another one to persecute those who are in the opposition, those who are conservative, those who are on the right”. According to the parliamentarian, the objective is to create a “smokescreen” over cases linked to the left, especially with the 2026 elections approaching.
Understand
Sóstenes Cavalcante was the target this Friday of Operation Galho Fraco, which investigates deviations in the rental of cars with the parliamentary quota, funds intended to pay current office expenses.
At least seven search and seizure warrants for people, vehicles and properties were carried out in the early hours of this Friday by Federal Police agents, authorized by Federal Supreme Court Minister Flávio Dino.
Reporter of the action in which the Federal Police investigates diversion of resources from parliamentary amendments, Dino raised the secrecy of the investigations. The corporation identified R$28.6 million in suspicious movements in the accounts of people linked to Sóstenes Cavalcante, including current and former advisors and family members.
