A Brazilian senator allied to President Jair Bolsonaro was on Thursday caught hiding money in his underwear when police was moved in to probe the diversion of public funds meant for fighting covid-19.
Senator Chico Rodrigues home in the northern state of Roraima was raided as part of a corruption probe.
The Federal officers found 30,000 reales ($5,300) in cash, some in Rodrigues’s underwear and some stuck between his buttocks.
The federal police told AFP that they were trying to dismantle a “possible criminal scheme diverting public funds” set aside to combat coronavirus outbreak in Roraima state.
Senator Rodrigues has issued a statement in which he appreciated the police for doing their job but he did not mention the cash and where it was found in his body.
“They did their job carrying out a search as part of an investigation in which I’m cited,” he said.
Rodrigues however complained that he had his home invaded just for doing his job as a legislator as he maintained that he had done nothing wrong.
President Bolsonaro also accused the media of using the story to paint his his government as corrupt administration.
“This operation is a typical example that there’s no corruption in my government, that we’re tackling corruption no matter who it is,” Bolsonaro said.
President Bolsonaro ascended to power in 2018 partly on the back of promise to fight corruption, but since he has faced several scandals since he got office.
The scandals include an investigation into his son Flavio, who was deviating public funds when he served as a Rio de Janeiro state legislator.
President Bolsonaro is also being investigated after his former justice minister, Sergio Moro accused him of meddling in the police probes to shield members of his family and friends.
