Hacker Walter Delgatti Neto, arrested on the 2nd of August by the Brazilian Federal Police (PF), testifies to the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI), which investigates the coup acts of January 8, this Thursday, August 17th, from 9:00 am (Brasília time).
He is the subject of an investigation into the insertion of 11 release permits and an arrest warrant against the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court Alexandre de Moraes in the National Prison Monitoring Bank of the Brazilian National Council of Justice (CNJ). The insertions were made between January 4 and 6 of this year, days before the acts that culminated in the invasion and depredation of the Three Powers buildings, in Brasília.
On June 27 of this year, Delgatti confessed to the Federal Police his participation in part of the scheme, which had the help of Bolsonaro supporter and federal deputy Carla Zambelli (Liberal Party - state of São Paulo). The hacker stated that the purpose of the invasion was to expose vulnerabilities in the Brazilian judicial system, with the aim of discrediting the electronic voting system.
In total, six parliamentarians filed requests in favor of his summoning: federal deputies Rogério Correia (Workers' Party - state of Minas Gerais), Duarte Jr. (Brazilian Socialist Party - state of Maranhão), Jandira Feghali (Communist Party of Brazil - state of Rio de Janeiro), Pastor Henrique Vieira (Socialism and Freedom Party - state of Rio de Janeiro) and Rubens Pereira Júnior (Workers' Party - state of Maranhão) and Senator Eliziane Gama (Social Democratic Party - state of Maranhão).
"In a previous statement, the hacker said that the action was aimed at demonstrating the vulnerability of the Brazilian Justice System and publicly discrediting the electronic voting system, with the aim of questioning the electoral results of the voting machines", recalled Rogério Correia in the application filed on August 2nd, the day Walter Delgatti Neto was arrested.
Along the same lines, Jandira Feghali points out that “the illicit acts committed by Delgatti Neto clearly served the coup purposes of demoralizing and attacking institutions, especially the Judicial Branch, increasing the chorus of falsehoods that stimulated the violent acts of January 8th”.
According to Delgatti, Zambelli requested that if he was unable to invade the electronic voting machines, the hacker should look for "compromising dialogues" involving Minister Alexandre de Moraes. In response, Delgatti would have stated that it would be possible to insert an arrest warrant against the minister in the system of the National Council of Justice.
Zambelli would have written the text and sent it for publication. Delgatti alleged that he "made some changes, because the Portuguese was kind of bad", and issued the arrest warrant and the blocking of values, in the exact amount of the fine imposed on the Liberal Party by the Superior Electoral Court, of around R$22 million (approximately US$4.4 million).
"Finally, I DETERMINE the full extraction of copies and their immediate shipment to the Inquiry n. 4.874/DF and of all inquiries of censorship and political persecution, ongoing in the FEDERAL SUPREME COURT to the CNJ, so that they punish me exemplary. In view of all the above, the competent arrest warrant is issued against myself, Alexandre de Moraes. Publish, intimate and do the L" (reference to the letter 'L' in sign language commonly displayed by supporters of President Lula in Brazil), says the letter.
The former deputy confirmed that she made payments to Walter Delgatti Neto, but claimed that they refer to services provided in favor of her personal website.
According to the Federal Police, the investigated facts "configure, in theory, the crimes of computer device invasion and ideological falsehood".
The scheme adds to the meeting between Delgatti and Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party), on August 10 last year, which would have been intermediated by Carla Zambelli. The former president would have told lawyers that he remained silent during contact with the hacker. But the hacker's version is different. According to him, Bolsonaro asked if “with the source code [of the electronic voting system, he] would be able to hack the electronic voting machines”.
Understand the case
In his opening statement, Delgatti admitted to having successfully hacked into the systems of the National Council of Justice and regional courts of law. In these attacks, he inserted a false arrest warrant for Minister Alexandre de Moraes, and also issued at least 11 release orders for detainees.
Delgatti claims that his actions were carried out at the request of deputy Carla Zambelli, with the aim of undermining confidence in the Judicial Branch. However, the deputy vehemently denies having solicited or rewarded the hacker for such activities.
On the same day when federal agents conducted searches of his home and office for evidence related to the investigation, Zambelli summoned the press to clarify her connection to Delgatti. She admitted that she hired the hacker's services for approximately US$600 to improve her website and social media presence.
In front of journalists, Zambelli reported that she met Delgatti when leaving a hotel and admitted that she introduced him to the president of the Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto, and to former president Jair Bolsonaro. The deputy explained that Delgatti expressed interest in offering his skills to the party to help in a possible evaluation of the electronic voting machines. However, Zambelli pointed out that such an agreement never happened.
As for the meeting with Bolsonaro, Zambelli clarified that the former president was seeking opinions on the security of electronic voting machines, given Delgatti's technical skills in the area of information technology. She speculated that the president may have had concerns about hiring someone with Delgatti's profile. The deputy emphasized that there was no further contact between Bolsonaro and Delgatti after that meeting.
Edited by: Nadini Lopes e Geisa Marques
