Aug 24, 2011

Corruption a Family Affair in Brazil

Federal Police Operation Bandwagon

MACEIO, Alagoas - The former mayor of Marechal Deodoro in the state of Alagoas was arrested early Wednesday and charged with embezzling money from public coffers. 'Operation Bandwagon' was conducted by the Federal Police and culminated in the arrest on Tuesday of the former mayor Danilo Damaso and his son Liberalino Ribeiro de Almeida Neto.

The son was arrested in the city of Vitória do Xingu in the state of Pará where he is mayor of the newly created municipality where his father and family own farms, dairies and automobile agencies.

Other members of his family had already been taken into custody, said the prosecutor, Delfino Castro Neto, who also said that the operation was coordinated by the Federal Police in the state of Pará.

According to a statement from the Federal Police the charges against both father and son would be embezzling money from public coffers. The prosecutor added that the whole family might be charged with exploiting slave labor.

Many relatives of Daniel, such as his daughter who was also a former mayor of Marachel Deodoro had already been arrested and were in custody in the Federal Police headquarters in Jaragua.

This is not the first time that Danilo Damaso has been arrested. In 2007, the former mayor was arrested on the same charges. In 2005 he was arrested for improper conduct and contempt of authority in Operation Gabiru. The details of those cases were not immediately available.

Marechal Deodoro is a municipality and an important tourist center of Alagoas, Brazil. Its population is 42,793 (2005).

The city was founded as Vila Madalena in 1611, and features a number of historical buildings from the colonial period. The first president of the Republic of Brazil, Marshal (Portuguese: Marechal) Deodoro da Fonseca, was born in Vila Madalena and the city was later re-named in his honor.

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Source(s) for this article: O Globo

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