Money flowed through subcontractors, allowing funds meant for public internet to be redirected toward film production
The DF government signed a R$5 million deal with Instituto Conhecer Brasil to implement STEAM Maker program in schools, with equipment including robotics kits and 3D printers. The NGO's owner, Karina Ferreira da Gama, is under police investigation in São Paulo for allegedly diverting public wifi program funds to produce the film Dark Horse.
- Federal District signed R$5 million contract with Instituto Conhecer Brasil in December 2023 for Steam Maker education program
- Contract expanded by R$1 million one month later and extended by one year
- Instituto Conhecer Brasil owner Karina Ferreira da Gama also owns Go Up Entertainment, producer of Dark Horse film
- São Paulo police investigating whether public wifi program funds were diverted to finance the film
- Program targeted sixteen public schools with robotics kits, 3D printers, and computers
Brazil's Federal District Education Secretary contracted an NGO for R$5 million to implement a STEAM education program, but the organization is linked to a producer under investigation for allegedly diverting public funds to finance a film about former president Bolsonaro.
In late December 2023, Brazil's Federal District Education Secretary signed a five-million-real contract with Instituto Conhecer Brasil, a nonprofit organization, to bring digital transformation to the capital's schools. The agreement outlined an ambitious program called Steam Maker—designed to weave science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics into the classroom curriculum across sixteen public schools. The plan called for equipping these institutions with robotics kits, three-dimensional printers, and computers, housed in what the contract termed "innovative creativity laboratories." It seemed straightforward: public money flowing toward educational infrastructure during the final months of Governor Ibanêis Rocha's administration.
But the organization behind the contract carries a complicated shadow. Instituto Conhecer Brasil is owned and controlled by Karina Ferreira da Gama, a woman whose business interests have expanded dramatically in recent years. She also owns Go Up Entertainment, a production company that has financed a feature film called Dark Horse, a biographical work about former president Jair Bolsonaro. Before Dark Horse, Ferreira da Gama had no film production experience to speak of. Her background lay in the nonprofit sector. Yet in recent years, she has secured increasingly lucrative contracts with São Paulo's municipal government, diversified her business holdings, and opened a holding company in Aracaju—all while deepening her political ties to federal deputy Mário Frias, a screenwriter on the Dark Horse project.
This week, São Paulo's civil police launched an operation to investigate whether public funds intended for a different purpose entirely were diverted to finance Dark Horse's production. The operation, called Wi-Fi, focused on a separate contract between São Paulo's city government and Instituto Conhecer Brasil—a deal worth millions to install five thousand free internet access points across the city's public streets. Police obtained search warrants and executed them at Ferreira da Gama's residences, at the offices of both the institute and the production company, and at the city's Department of Innovation and Technology.
According to documents reviewed by O Globo, the investigating detective, Antonio Carlos Munuera Silveira, outlined his suspicion that public money from the Wi-Fi Live SP program had been siphoned away through a deliberate blurring of finances. Because Instituto Conhecer Brasil is not a technology company, it subcontracted the actual installation work to various specialized firms. The detective's theory holds that these subcontracts and other organizations managed by Ferreira da Gama may have served as conduits for laundering diverted public funds back into the film's budget. The language in the warrant application speaks of "suspicions of patrimonial confusion"—a legal term suggesting intentional commingling of public and private money.
The timing raises uncomfortable questions about oversight. The Federal District's initial contract with Instituto Conhecer Brasil was set at four million reals. One month later, an addendum released an additional one million reals. The contract's end date was also extended by a full year, pushing completion from December 2024 to December 2025. When O Globo reached out to the Federal District's Education Secretary for comment, there was no response. Ferreira da Gama, when contacted, also declined to speak.
What emerges is a pattern of a nonprofit organization winning substantial government contracts in multiple jurisdictions while its owner simultaneously pursues commercial film production—all while under active criminal investigation for allegedly misusing public resources. The Steam Maker program itself may be legitimate; the equipment and curriculum design appear sound on paper. But the organization delivering it operates under a cloud of suspicion that extends far beyond education policy into questions of financial accountability and the proper stewardship of public money.
Notable Quotes
Suspicions of patrimonial confusion and that resources from the WiFi Live SP program were diverted to film production through subcontracted companies and other organizations managed by the investigated party— Detective Antonio Carlos Munuera Silveira, in warrant application documents
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would a nonprofit with no film experience suddenly decide to produce a movie about a former president?
That's the question investigators are asking. Ferreira da Gama's background was entirely in the nonprofit sector until recently. The film production appears to have emerged alongside her growing contracts with city governments—São Paulo especially. It's not necessarily illegal to own multiple businesses, but the timing and the scale of the contracts raise flags.
So the police think the government money was literally used to pay for the movie?
That's the theory. Because Instituto Conhecer Brasil isn't a tech company, it had to hire other firms to actually do the wifi installation work. The detective's argument is that money flowed through these subcontractors and other organizations she controlled, allowing funds meant for public internet to be redirected toward film production costs.
And the Federal District contract—was that part of the same scheme?
That's unclear. The Wi-Fi investigation is focused on São Paulo. But the timing is suspicious: a five-million-real education contract signed in December 2023, then expanded by another million just a month later. The contract was also extended by a year. It raises questions about whether anyone was actually scrutinizing these deals.
What would Steam Maker have actually delivered to students?
On paper, it's solid educational infrastructure. Robotics kits, 3D printers, computers in sixteen schools, all designed to teach interdisciplinary problem-solving. The curriculum framework makes sense. The problem isn't the program itself—it's whether the organization implementing it was financially sound and operating in good faith.
Has Ferreira da Gama responded to any of this?
No. When journalists asked her about the investigation, she declined to comment. The Education Secretary also didn't respond. That silence itself tells you something about how seriously they're taking the scrutiny.
What happens to the schools now?
That's the open question. The contract was supposed to run through December 2025. Whether the program continues, gets suspended, or gets reassigned to another provider will depend on how the investigation unfolds and what the authorities decide.