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People · Federal Police chief investigators

Ricardo Andrade Saadi, presidente do Coaf, em audiência na CAE do Senado (25/11/2025); sozinho no enquadramento. Mesmo Ricardo Saadi, delegado da PF (ex-superintendente no RJ; legenda do CNJ de 2013 o chama 'Delegado Ricardo Andrade Saadi', diretor do DRCI)
Photo: Andressa Anholete/Agência Senado · CC BY-SA 4.0

Ricardo Saadi

PF chief investigator; superintendent in Rio de Janeiro until the dismissal published on August 30, 2019.

Being in this archive does not mean having committed any wrongdoing. Procedural status: see each case and episode, with date.

Positions and roles

  • PF superintendent in Rio de Janeiro (?–2019-08-30)
    Sources (1)

    On August 16, 2019, Bolsonaro said he would put the PF superintendent in Amazonas, Alexandre Saraiva, in command of the PF in Rio; the dismissal of Superintendent Ricardo Saadi appeared in the Official Gazette on August 30, 2019, and the PF announced Federal Police chief investigator Carlos Henrique Oliveira Souza as the new superintendent, while Bolsonaro defended the name of Alexandre Saraiva.

    News reportSeveral independent sources

Episodes

Evidence mentioning Ricardo Saadi

On August 16, 2019, Bolsonaro said he would put the PF superintendent in Amazonas, Alexandre Saraiva, in command of the PF in Rio; the dismissal of Superintendent Ricardo Saadi appeared in the Official Gazette on August 30, 2019, and the PF announced Federal Police chief investigator Carlos Henrique Oliveira Souza as the new superintendent, while Bolsonaro defended the name of Alexandre Saraiva.

News reportSeveral independent sources

According to an excerpt of Saadi's testimony described in a news report, Valeixo phoned on August 15, 2019 saying he would move up the replacement of the Rio superintendency and wanted to move him to Brasília, without revealing reasons; minutes later he received the link to Bolsonaro's statement to the press.

Document described in a news reportSingle source

In testimony to the PF (November 3, 2021), Bolsonaro confirmed that in August 2019 he suggested to Moro changing the PF leadership in Rio and said he did so because the state is very complicated and he understood that the superintendent needed more freedom; he denied intending to obtain privileged information.

Document described in a news reportSingle source

Moro's defense stated, in a petition attached to the inquiry by Federal Police chief investigator Christiane Correa Machado, that Bolsonaro's first wish to replace the Rio superintendent occurred in August 2019, the same month in which Fabrício Queiroz's defense requested access to a confidential PF inquiry in Rio that would mention Queiroz and, indirectly, Flávio Bolsonaro.

AccusationAllegation