Brazilian Police Find Notes Worth Rs 3.8 Lakh Hidden Between Official's Clenched Buttocks During Raid

[Spartan]

Brazilian Police on Wednesday found bundles of cash hidden between the buttocks of Jair Bolsonaro’s ally during a raid to check suspected misappropriation of public funds for fighting the coronavirus.

The President's Deputy leader in the senate Chico Rodrigues was caught with 30,000 reais - which is more than Rs 3,88,870 - stashed in his underpants, the Guardian reported, quoting a Spanish daily the Estado de São Paulo newspaper.

Some of the notes the Roraima Senator had concealed were reportedly stained with feces. Revista Crusoé, a Spanish magazine that first reported the story said it was a "scene of considerable embarrassment".

Police had been searching Rodrigues' home in Roraima’s capital, Boa Vista.

The news came amid Bolsonaro's repeated attempts to portray himself as an anti-corruption leader. The conservative President has faced repeated protests for "botching" the coronavirus response in the country.

Brazilians shared the news under the viral hashtag #PropinaNaBunda, which roughly translates into 'A Bribe up the Bum'. Some said the incident would be remembered "in the anals of history”.

Rodrigues did not comment on the incident but denied being involved in corruption. He said his rivals were attempting to sully his reputation.

He said he had a clean background and a respectable life. "I’ve never been involved in any kind of scandal,” he said.

Bolsonaro on Wednesday had said there was not any corruption in his government, and threatened to deliver a “flying kick to the neck” of any corrupt politician.

Brazilian state prosecutors in September had brought charges against the Bolsonaro's son Flavio, for alleged embezzlement, laundering and running a criminal organization, domestic newspaper O Globo had reported.

The indictments ratcheted up pressure in a long-running probe into the son of right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro.

The younger Bolsonaro, 39, is a federal senator who has been under investigation for accusations that he orchestrated a corruption scheme in which employees would kick back part of their salary to him while he was serving in the Rio de Janeiro state legislature.