São Paulo Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) ordered the creation of a working group on Thursday (17) to analyze the elements of the investigation that led to the temporary arrest warrant for former city councilman Milton Leite (União Brasil).
According to the city hall, the body will be composed of members from the municipal Attorney General's Office, the Comptroller General's Office, and the Urban Mobility Secretariat, as well as SPTrans, and will also examine the possibility of the local government intervening in bus company A2, one of the targets of Thursday's operation.
If confirmed, the intervention will follow the same model applied to Transwolff and UpBus, both investigated on suspicion of links to the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital).
"The City Hall will conduct a rigorous review of contracts, documents, and any potential ties between the company and the municipal transportation system, adopting all necessary administrative and legal measures," the administration stated in a press release.
The statement also affirms that the municipal administration "does not condone any irregularity and will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities responsible for the investigations."
Dubbed Operation Vectura Corrupta, Thursday's operation investigates whether companies providing public transportation services in São Paulo state municipalities came to be managed by faction members after winning public tenders.
The investigation also targets suspected corruption of public servants and PCC involvement in financing political campaigns.
In total, 16 people were subject to arrest warrants in a ruling that also authorized searches at 18 addresses in the municipalities of São Paulo, Santana de Parnaíba, São Bernardo do Campo, Diadema, Santos, Praia Grande, and Cubatão.
The warrants were issued by the 8th Criminal Law Chamber of the São Paulo Court of Justice and by the State Court for Guarantees on Criminal Organizations and Money Laundering.
Milton Leite served as city councilman for seven terms, from 1997 to 2024. He was also the longest-serving president of the City Council since the return of democracy, presiding over the city's Legislative branch in 2017 and 2018 and from 2021 to 2024 — when he chose not to run for another council term.
The ruling that ordered the former councilman's arrest identifies Leite as the "de facto owner" of Transwolff, a company accused of laundering money for the PCC. According to the judge, the politician "is cited by name on numerous occasions as directly responsible for the operation of some of the companies controlled by the PCC."
He was not located by investigators at his registered addresses and is considered a fugitive. Speaking to Folha by phone, Leite said he was outside the capital and stated he would turn himself in within 24 hours. "I am organizing things with my lawyers," he said.
He denies all accusations. "I vehemently deny it. I don't know anyone from the PCC in my life," he stated. According to him, his relationship with the transportation sector was institutional, at the request of then-Mayor Bruno Covas, and there is "no possibility whatsoever" that he owns the company, which, he says, has 600 cooperative members. Transwolff also denies the accusation.
