Lula’s communications minister in hot water. Again

Communications Minister Juscelino Filho. Photo: Rafa Neddemeyer/EBC

In a report to the Federal Police, Brazil’s Federal Comptroller General’s Office (CGU) denounced irregularities with the funding of a project to pave a road in the Northeastern state of Maranhão. The works were made possible by a budgetary earmark proposed by Juscelino Filho, a lawmaker who currently serves as Brazil’s Communications Minister.

According to the comptroller, the project was designed to benefit Mr. Filho’s properties and those of his family members. The findings of the report, which was not made public, were revealed on Sunday by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

Juscelino Filho — who was re-elected as a congressman in late 2022 and took a leave to serve in the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cabinet — is no stranger to controversy. Last year, the press revealed that he flew to attend a horse auction on the public dime, a scandal that threatened his stay in office.

While serving in the House, Mr. Filho allegedly funneled funds of budgetary earmarks to a city governed by his sister, including money to pave a road that crosses farms belonging to his family, according to a report by O Estado de S. Paulo published in early 2023.

Last year, a Supreme Court justice reportedly froze BRL 835,000 (USD 163,000) in assets belonging to Juscelino Filho, as part of a Federal Police investigation into bid-rigging, embezzlement, and money laundering. The investigation is under judicial secrecy — the court has not made the documents available to the public.

The Communications Ministry told The Brazilian Report that Mr. Filho’s role as congressman was “to allocate budgetary earmarks that benefit the people who need them most,” and that “execution and supervision of the construction work is not the responsibility of the lawmakers.”

The road in question, the statement adds, is “an asset of the people of Vitorino Freire,” “connecting 11 villages” where hundreds struggle “with great challenges in getting to work, schools, hospitals, and health centers, especially during rainy periods.”