Officers served 16 search and seizure warrants along with six arrest warrants on locations in the capital Brasília and Rio de Janeiro as part of the investigation.

Another probe concerns the alleged gift of expensive jewellery by the Saudi state. Bolsonaro is also subject to inquiries by electoral authorities, which could lead to him being barred from running for office for eight years. He denies wrongdoing in all the cases.

Wednesday’s raids took place under the ambit of a supreme court probe into so-called digital militias, alleged criminal organisations spreading misinformation.

“The investigation indicates that the group’s objective was to maintain a cohesive identity in relation to its ideological agenda. In this case, backing attacks on vaccination against Covid-19,” said a federal police statement.

This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Michael Pooler