The Federal Police operation against businessmen who would share messages containing the coup in WhatsApp groups moved to Santa Catarina on Tuesday (23).

Among the targets of the operation, which executes eight search and seizure warrants in five states, are two well-known businessmen in Santa Catarina: Luciano Hang from Havana and Marco Aurelio Raimundo, known as Morongo, the founder of Mormaii.

The operation executed eight search and seizure warrants in five states. Photo: Moises Stucker/NDTV

Luciano Hang took up a position in relation to the execution of warrants at his residence in Balneario Camboriu, on the north coast of Santa Catarina, and in Brusca, at the administrative headquarters of Havana, in Vale do Itajai.

In the note, he said he was surprised this morning at 6 a.m. when he was working at the store’s headquarters and the Federal Police took away his mobile phone.

He also stated that he was “quiet because I am on the side of the truth and with a clear conscience. Since I became a political activist, I have been preaching democracy and freedom of thought and expression so that we can have a fairer and freer country for all Brazilians.”

Morongo, in his defense, said that “he still does not know the full content of the investigation, but he has presented himself and remains at the disposal of all authorities for clarification.” The warrant was served at an address associated with a businessman in Garopaba, south of Santa Catarina.

In addition to them, José Isaac Perez (Multiplan chain of stores), Andre Tisso (Grupo Serra), Ivan Vrubel (Construtora W3), Jose Curi (Barra World Shopping), Meyer Nirgri (Tecnisa) and Afranio Barreira (Grupo Coco Bambu) are being investigated. ).

The operation was launched at the behest of Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and aims to investigate whether businessmen would defend coup strategies if Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) won this year’s elections.

The action is the result of messages exchanged between the victims in WhatsApp groups, published in an article by journalist Guilherme Amado from the Metropoles portal dated August 17 under the heading: “Exclusive. Bolsonarist businessmen defend a coup d’état if Lula is elected; see zaps”.

Following the release of the report, Senator Randolph Rodriguez (Rede-AP) called the STF and requested that investigations of messages and business groups be included in the investigation into digital militias led by Alexander de Moraes.

The operation is under the absolute secrecy of the Federal Police, who, as usual, do not disclose further details of the police investigation.

What are other entrepreneurs saying?

Businessman Afraniu Barreira Filho of Coco Bamboo posted a note saying he was “absolutely calm”. “My only manifestation [no grupo de WhatsApp] there was a smiley on this topic [o desenho de um rapaz aplaudindo os comentários de outros integrantes do grupo] signaling that a message has been read [anterior], disapproving and disagreeing with its content,” he commented, guaranteeing the credibility of justice and support for Brazilian democracy. “I have never advocated, spoken out, thought or written in favor of any anti-democratic or coup movement. Therefore, I am for freedom, democracy and a fair electoral process.”

In the note, Ivan Vrubel’s defense qualifies as a false statement that the businessman is defending a coup d’etat and claims that his honor and authority have been shaken “simply by participating in a WhatsApp group.” “A descendant of a Polish-Jewish family, Mr. Ivan has always been aware of the danger that a dictatorship can cause. It should be noted that in 1968 Mr. [durante o regime militar]when a student ime [Instituto Militar de Engenharia]was asked to leave the institution for speaking out against AI-5 [Ato Institucional nº 5]”, – adds protection.

Luis adviser Andre Tissot said that he would not comment on this topic yet.

O BUT+ contacted other businessmen mentioned in the report, but received no response prior to the publication of this report. The space remains open.

See full defense note by Luciano Hanga

Businessman Luciano Hang was surprised this morning [terça-feira, 23] with a search and seizure warrant issued by STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes. Luciano was working at his company at 6 a.m. when federal police approached him and took away his mobile phone.

The investigation was carried out because of an article published in a column by journalist Guilherme Amado from Metropoles on August 17 under the heading: “Exclusive. Bolsonarist businessmen defend a coup d’état if Lula is elected; see zaps”.

The businessman confirms that the article was irresponsible and did not reflect the truth. “I never talked about the STF or the coup. The journalist, in a frivolous and sensational manner, used fragmentary fragments of conversations and took them out of context,” he says.

Luciano’s speech to the Entrepreneurs and Politics group was as follows: “4 more years of Bolsonaro, 8 more years of Tarcisio, and then there will be no more room for these vagabonds,” he said, referring to the well-known politicians who were in power. for decades. Luciano’s message was a response to a speech by businessman Roberto Mota, who spoke about elections, not powers.

The speech of the businessman follows in full: “I remain calm, because I am on the side of the truth and with a clear conscience. Since I became a political activist, I have been preaching democracy and freedom of thought and expression so that we can have a fairer and freer country for all Brazilians. I am part of a group of 250 businessmen from different political currents, and each of them has his own point of view. As far as I know, there is still no crime of thought and opinion in Brazil. From my messages in the private whatsapp group, it appears that I have NEVER, ever talked about Coup or STF. I have fallen victim to the irresponsibility of petty, frivolous and militant journalism, which is unfortunately present in some newsrooms throughout Brazil. Here is my conversation with journalist Guilherme Amado from Metropoles on Thursday, August 18, around 18:00, where he himself admits that I never talked about a coup d’état: