Brazilian federal police raided former President Jair Bolsonaro’s residence in Brasilia on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a group accused of inserting bogus vaccine data into the government’s Covid-19 database, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
According to the sources, two of Bolsonaro’s closest aides, Mauro Cid and Max Guilherme, were arrested in the same operation.
In a statement earlier in the day, federal police said they were serving 16 search and seizure warrants and six preventive arrest orders in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro as part of the investigation, but did not name those targeted.
Bolsonaro’s spokeswoman and lawyer did not immediately reply to demands for comment.
Police stated the “false data” were reportedly entered to the database between November 2021 and December 2022, when Bolsonaro was president, in order to change the immunization statuses of persons who have yet to be identified.
“As a result, they were able to issue vaccine certificates and use them to circumvent restrictions imposed by public authorities in Brazil and the United States,” police said, adding that the gang had a “ideological reason” for doing so as well.
During his presidency, Bolsonaro was a vocal opponent of Covid-19 vaccines, vowing never to get the shot.