Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro denied wrongdoing after federal police searched his Brasilia home Wednesday morning in a case about alleged alteration of Covid-19 vaccination records.
(Bloomberg) — Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro denied wrongdoing after federal police searched his Brasilia home Wednesday morning in a case about alleged alteration of Covid-19 vaccination records.
Police said in a statement that they are investigating allegations that false data was entered into public health systems and vaccination cards were changed. The statement did not name Bolsonaro, but his records are among those police suspect were altered in order to meet requirements to enter other countries, including the US, according to a person familiar with the investigation who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
Six people, including two close Bolsonaro aides, were arrested as part of the probe, the person said.
Bolsonaro, who said throughout his presidency that he had not been immunized, told reporters that he is not vaccinated and had not altered records to show otherwise.
“I didn’t take the vaccine, it’s my personal decision,” he said from Brasilia. “There is no tampering on my part. I didn’t get the vaccine, period.”
Lt. Col. Mauro Cid Barbosa, who acted as Bolsonaro’s personal secretary, and Max Guilherme Machado de Moura, his personal security guard and friend, were among those arrested, according to the person familiar with the case.
Bolsonaro, who made baseless claims about the risks of vaccine side effects throughout his presidency, is expected to provide testimony to police, the person said. Bolsonaro’s phone was seized as part of the investigation. His wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, used a Twitter post to deny reports that her phone had also been taken.
The police said in a statement that the falsified documents were meant to “circumvent the current health restrictions imposed by public authorities” in Brazil and the US. The alterations were made between November 2021 and December 2022, the police said. The investigation included 16 search warrants and six preventive arrest orders, according to police.
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The probe is the latest source of legal scrutiny facing the former president since his March return from the US, where he spent three months in self-imposed exile following his October election defeat. He is also facing investigations into his potential links to Jan. 8 riots in Brasilia, his claims to foreign diplomats that Brazil’s election machines were vulnerable to fraud and $3 million of jewelry allegedly gifted to him by the government of Saudi Arabia.
Bolsonaro, who last week testified as part of the probe into the Jan. 8 insurrection attempt his supporters carried out in the capital, has denied wrongdoing in each of the various investigations he is facing.
–With assistance from Bruna Lessa.
(Recasts story with Bolsonaro statement and additional details)
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