The Brazilian MP who goes by the name Flordelis dos Santos de Souza has been accused of orchestrating the killing of her 42-year-old husband.
According to reports, her husband, Anderson do Carmo, was shot 30 times at their home in Rio de Janeiro in June 2019.
Ms de Souza, 59, however, said that her husband had been killed in a robbery attack.
Although during an investigation into the incident, prosecutors disclosed that they had unearthed a murder plot, indicating that Ms de Souza and a number of her children had been behind it.
In response to the allegations, Ms de Souza, a celebrity lawmaker for Rio de Janeiro who got attained fame as a gospel singer before going into politics, denied the claims, insisting she has no hand in the killing of her husband.
Despite her claims, prosecutors on Monday announced charges against Ms de Souza and 10 others, including six of her children and one granddaughter. The court issued Arrest warrants against nine of the accused.
Ms de Souza, popularly known as Flordelis to her Brazilian fans could not be arrested by the police, because her status as an elected lawmaker affords her parliamentary immunity.
In order to move swiftly with the investigation, detectives wrote details of their investigation to Congress, asking for Ms de Souza to be stripped of her parliamentary status.
“The conclusion the investigation reached was this: that she [Ms de Souza] planned this cowardly murder,” homicide chief Antonio Ricardo Lima Nunes told reporters.
He cited a feud over Mr do Carmo’s handling of the family’s finances as a possible motive.
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Prosecutors described a vicious family row in which Ms de Souza’s husband blocked her from giving “preferential treatment” to her favourite children.
According to reports, Ms de Souza had tried to poison her husband at least six times before finally ordering several of her children to kill him.
Mr do Carmo, 42, was gunned down in the early hours of 16 June at the couple’s home in Niteroi, a city in south-east Brazil.
Investigators said Flavio dos Santos Rodrigues, Ms de Souza’s biological son, fired the shots that killed his stepfather, with a gun purchased by Lucas Cesar dos Santos, one of the couple’s adopted children.
Given Ms de Souza’s celebrity status, Mr do Carmo’s murder and the subsequent investigation has attracted much media attention in Brazil.
Ms de Souza and her husband, who were parents to more than 50 biological and adopted children, were considered a power couple of Brazil’s burgeoning Evangelical Christian movement.
Her legal representative pleaded on behalf of the lawmaker, announcing her innocence and insisting she “never ordered this savage crime” according to Brazilian media.
Police commissioner Allan Duarte portrayed Ms de Souza as the ringleader of the alleged murder plot when speaking at an interview with Brazilian TV network Globo, .
“The investigation demonstrated that [Ms de Souza’s] image of altruism and decency was merely a ploy to gain wealth and political power,” he said.
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