Brazil Vote-Buying Bust: Police Arrest 22 in Roraima Ring Paying Voters US$77 Each

Federal Police officers enter a company building in São Paulo during an earlier operation (file photo). The PF made 44 vote-buying arrests in Roraima on 1 and 2 October. (Photo: Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil)

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POLITICS · BRAZIL

Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) broke up a vote-buying ring in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, on Thursday 1 October. Officers arrested 22 people at two houses where voters were paid R$400 (about US$77) each in cash, G1 and O Globo reported.

On Friday the PF held 21 more people. On Saturday it searched two addresses over R$4 million (about US$766,000) in cash. The busts come on the eve of Sunday’s election, with security tight nationwide: US Consulates in Brazil Halt Services Before the Vote.

How the Boa Vista vote-buying ring worked

An anonymous tip to the PF electoral hotline flagged a house in the Calungá district, O Globo reported, citing arrest records. Voters had their names checked against lists there, then were sent to a second house to be paid.

Each voter received four R$100 notes (about US$19 each), O Globo said. Two were meant for federal candidate Daniel Trindade and two for state deputy Márcio “Marcinho” Belota, who is seeking re-election.

Both men belong to the PL, the party of presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. Phones were taken at the door so nobody could film the handover, according to the records.

People arrested by Brazil's Federal Police in six vote-buying actions in Roraima, 1–2 October 2026. Source: G1 Roraima, 2 and 3 October 2026; O Globo and Poder360, 3 October 2026.

One campaign worker told police he received about R$19,000 (about US$3,640) at Trindade’s campaign office. The PF indicted three alleged organisers and 19 voters for electoral corruption and criminal association.

A court released the voters without bail, citing their low incomes. Belota’s home was searched under an electoral court warrant. Trindade was arrested in a separate PF operation on 25 September, O Globo reported.

A man held that day with a voter list and R$33,720 (about US$6,460) took Thursday’s arrests to 23 (G1, Roraima 1).

Twenty-one more vote-buying arrests on Friday

On Friday 2 October the PF arrested 21 people and seized R$78,600 (about US$15,060) in Boa Vista and Alto Alegre, G1 reported. Three of the four actions began with anonymous tips, and one came from a routine patrol.

That patrol stopped 11 people leaving a house with R$300 (about US$57) each and campaign leaflets, G1 and Roraima 1 reported. In Alto Alegre, police found R$8,007 (about US$1,530) in a car and R$17,100 (about US$3,280) in a house, Poder360 said.

A cash seizure and a candidate arrested twice

On Saturday morning the PF launched Operation Moriarty in Caracaraí, in southern Roraima, serving two search warrants, G1 reported. It follows the seizure of about R$4 million (about US$766,000) spotted during a monitored bank withdrawal.

Police see no clear reason for the cash and suspect it was meant to fund campaigns illegally.

Separately, state assembly candidate Jalser Renier (PSDB) was arrested on 24 September and again on 1 October, G1 reported. Police said a spreadsheet in his closet planned payments of up to R$500 (about US$96) to more than 12,000 voters.

Renier was released on Friday after his defence intervened. He has not been convicted of any offence.

A national clampdown, and a reporting system that works

Roraima’s vote-buying cases are part of a wider push. By 1 October the PF had opened 1,224 electoral-crime inquiries this year, seizing about R$33 million (about US$6.3 million), SBT News reported.

The Roraima cases also show the safeguards working, since citizens tipped off police in most of them. Officials are preparing elsewhere too: Amazon Drought: Brazil’s Election Court Lines Up Backup Polling Sites Before Sunday.

What Is Not Yet Known

Investigators are still tracing who financed the Boa Vista vote-buying payments, and whether other local politicians benefited, O Globo reported. No response from Trindade or Belota appeared in the reports by Saturday afternoon.

The owner of the Caracaraí cash has not been named. It is also unclear whether the 21 people held on Friday will be indicted before Sunday’s vote.

Sources: O Globo, 3 October 2026; G1 Roraima, 2 October, 3 October and 3 October, and 2 October; Roraima 1, 3 October; Poder360, 3 October; SBT News, 1 October 2026. Conversions at R$5.22 to the dollar (2 October close).

This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief