The checkered past of Luis Miranda, Brazil’s Covaxin whistleblower

“Anyone can have a Lamborghini, you just have to want it!”

“Imagine earning hundreds of thousands, without having to do anything!”

With phrases like these, uttered in front of luxury sports cars, yachts, and mansions — invariably in Miami — Luis Cláudio Fernando Miranda began his rise to moderate fame. Today, he is caught in the middle of a government scandal involving questionable purchases of the Indian-made Covaxin vaccine, but five years ago he was a lifestyle YouTuber.

Luis Miranda presented himself as a Brazilian immigrant who had achieved the American dream, four years after moving to the U.S. in 2012. Upon arrival, he says, he worked in the buying and selling of real estate and automobiles and managed to amass a small fortune. His videos largely consisted of business tips and advice on how to obtain a permanent visa in the U.S., claiming that all of his followers could emulate his success in the States.

However, despite portraying the U.S. as paradise on earth and constantly reminding his viewers that he had achieved all of his dreams in Miami, Mr. Miranda decided to run for Congress back in Brazil. One month before the 2018 elections, he moved back to his hometown of Brasília with his wife and children. His plan, he said, was to copy laws implemented by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, and Make Brazil Great Again.

Using the nom de guerre “Luis Miranda USA,” he appeared in party political broadcasts alongside an American flag. “What made the difference to my life [in the U.S.] was the tax reform carried out by Donald Trump. I didn’t do anything special and my net worth jumped from USD 1.5 million to 7.5 million,” he boasted, in one of his campaign stings. 

The central premise of Mr. Trump’s tax bill was to reduce corporate taxes and simplify income tax...