Brazil police arrest two intel agents for alleged illegal surveillance (updated)

COGNYTE SOFTWARE

20/10/2023 18:11

(Adds Abin comment in paragraphs 4-5)
       RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal
police on Friday arrested two intelligence officials from the
country's spy agency Abin for allegedly using phone hacking
tools without judicial approval.
    Police said in a statement they had also carried out 25
search and seizure warrants in five states as part of the probe
being led by the country's Supreme Court. 
    Brazilian newspapers O Globo and Folha de S.Paulo reported
that Abin officials allegedly bought the spying software
FirstMile from Israeli firm Cognyte  CGNT.O  and used it to
invade targets' phones and geolocate them.
    Abin said in a statement it had launched an internal probe
into the alleged misuse of the tool, which it had acquired in
2018 and stopped using in 2021. It said it had cooperated with
all relevant authorities and that it had suspended all of the
implicated Abin officials. 
        "Abin's current management and employees reaffirm their
commitment to legality and the Democratic Rule of Law," it said.
   
    Cognyte did not respond to a request for comment. 
    The alleged illegal surveillance took place under former
President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who
narrowly last year's election to leftist President Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva. 
    The federal police did not say whom Abin officials had
targeted. Local media reported that targets included Bolsonaro's
critics, including journalists. 
    Police said two Abin officials were facing internal
disciplinary actions and allegedly used their knowledge of the
spying program as leverage to avoid dismissal.
    Among targets of Friday's search and seizure warrants was
Abin's third-highest-ranking official, Paulo Maurício Fortunato
Pinto, according to Folha and O Globo. At his home, police
reportedly found $170,000 in cash. He could not immediately be
reached for comment.

 (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter
Editing by Brad Haynes and Marguerita Choy)
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