Bahia Pix amendment inquiry pits broad suspicion against an unproven link

Bahia Pix amendment inquiry pits broad suspicion against an unproven link
Federal Police launched Operation Fluxo Paralelo to examine suspected diversion of public funds and money laundering connected to so-called Pix amendments — direct federal transfers to municipalities — in Bahia. Searches were carried out in Porto Seguro, Eunápolis and Itamaraju under an order from Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino. The inquiry includes amendments submitted by federal lawmaker Neto Carletto, though he was not a target of the operation.

The two accounts of the case share the same central allegation: investigators are examining whether public money was improperly handled. They differ in emphasis. One focuses on the wider scrutiny of transfers to Bahia municipalities and possible offenses including embezzlement by diversion, money laundering and potential election-finance irregularities. The other sets out the evidence used to justify searches of Carletto’s parents, another individual and a transport company linked to the family.

According to the court-based account, the case grew from a federal audit of Pix-style transfers to Coração de Maria, which received R$44.3 million through the mechanism between 2020 and 2024. Two amendments totaling just over R$8.6 million, submitted by Carletto, are among those being examined. Financial intelligence reports cited repeated large cash withdrawals, while police monitoring recorded trips from a bank to the transport company’s garage. Officers did not report seeing any money handed over there.

Dino said the legal threshold for searches was not proof of a crime, but “well-founded reasons” backed by objective elements. Prosecutors likewise supported the measures while drawing a clear limit: “it is not possible to state, at this moment, that the cash withdrawn originates from these amendments.”

That distinction is central to the case. Investigators say the timing of contracts funded by the transfers and the withdrawals may indicate a connection; the prosecution says that connection still needs to be demonstrated. Carletto has defended the legality of his parliamentary actions and expressed confidence in those named in the warrants.

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