Protógenes Pinheiro Queiroz (born May 20, 1959) is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian Federal Police officer

Police officer

A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...

 who has led investigations in some of the country's most high profile corruption

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

 cases. Queiroz was responsible for investigations leading to imprisonment of the former mayor of São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, Paulo Maluf

Paulo Maluf

Paulo Salim Maluf is a Brazilian politician with a career spanning over four decades and many functions, including those of State Governor of São Paulo, Mayor of the City of São Paulo, Congressman and Presidential candidate. As of 2011, Maluf is on a second consecutive term as Federal Deputy...

. He was a key figure in two investigations, in 2005 and 2007, into corruption scandals in Brazilian football (the latter against Boris Berezovsky's MSI group for money laundering

Money laundering

Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

 in Corinthians

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...

). From 2004 to July 2008 Quieroz led Operation Satiagraha, a major operation into misuse of public funds, money laundering and corruption, leading to the arrest of the banker Daniel Dantas

Daniel Dantas

Daniel Valente Dantas is a Brazilian banker and financier, founder of Opportunity Asset Management in 1994. Opportunity Group lead an international private sector partnership that bought up a large chunk of the Brazilian telecoms sector in 1997, when this sector was privatized...

 and several other prominent figures, including Celso Pitta

Celso Pitta

Celso Roberto Pitta do Nascimento was a Brazilian economist and politician. He is a Bachelor in Economics by Fluminense Federal University, master in Economics by University of Leeds and specialist in Advanced Administration by Harvard University.-Mayor:...

, another former mayor of São Paulo.

Protógenes Queiroz is a controversial and famous figure in Brazil. While he has been frequently lauded as a lone fighter for truth and justice in a corrupt system — Brazil's Eliot Ness

Eliot Ness

Eliot Ness was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois, and the leader of a legendary team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables.- Early life :...

 — he has also been criticised and investigated for going beyond his authority in the way he conducts his investigations.

On April 13, 2009, Protogenes Queiroz was suspended indefinitely from the Federal Police for engaging in political activity. Queiroz is now officially affiliated to the PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil), and has declared that he will run for congress in 2010.

Operation Satiagraha

For nearly four years (2004–2008), Queiroz led Operation Satiagraha, an investigation of the Brazilian Federal police into misuse of public funds, corruption and money laundering. Satiagraha resulted in the arrest on July 8, 2008 of several bankers, bank directors and investors. The most high-profile figure investigated in Satiagraha, the banker Daniel Dantas, was convicted to ten years' imprisonment in December 2008.

In an interview the Procurator of the Republic, Rodrigo de Grandis, stated that the purpose of Satiagraha was to investigate two distinct criminal operations, one of which was led by Dantas. Both of these operations focused on crimes in the financial market. Queiroz said that the objective of Satiagraha was to "combat a pernicious situation for our country. We were shocked by the scale of the two organisations, the level of intimidation and their power to corrupt."

In mid July 2008, Queiroz was removed from Operation Satiagraha by Luiz Fernando Corrêa, the head of Federal Police, for breaking the chain of command of the Federal Police by not informing his superiors of the involvement of secret service agents. At the time that Queiroz left Operation Satiagraha, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...

 — without success — called for Quieroz to return to the case.

Following the removal of Queiroz from the Operation, he was investigated for collaborating with staff of the Brazilian secret service, ABIN

Abin

Abin may refer to:* Abin Sur, a fictional character* R. Abin I, Jewish Talmudist* R. Abin II, Jewish Talmudist* Jose ben Abin, Jewish Talmudist* Abin Naggara, Jewish Talmudist* Idi b. Abin Abin Naggara, Jewish Talmudist...

, in the use of allegedly illegal telephone taps.

Daniel Dantas

The most high-profile subject of Operation Satiagraha was Daniel Dantas. An investment banker with historically close ties to the Brazilian government, Dantas's Opportunity Group led an international private sector partnership that bought up a large chunk of the Brazilian telecoms sector in 1997, when this sector was privatised.

Dantas was arrested twice by Queiroz in early July 2008 on charges of money laundering and tax evasion (on the second occasion Queiroz handcuffed Dantas personally) but each time released almost immediately. The President of the Supreme Court Gilmar Mendes

Gilmar Mendes

Gilmar Ferreira Mendes is a Brazilian Justice of the Supremo Tribunal Federal , since being appointed by then President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 2002...

 gave Dantas two habeas corpus

Habeas corpus

is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

in less than two days.

Daniel Dantas was finally convicted to ten years' imprisonment in December 2008 for attempting to bribe a police officer.