Walter Delgatti Neto
- Life
- 1989 – present
- Born
- March 23, 1989
- Nationality
- Brazil
Walter Delgatti Neto, also known as Hacker de Araraquara or Vermelho is a Brazilian hacker. He became nationally known for hacking mobile devices of Operation Car Wash authorities, and later, for crimes committed along congresswoman Carla Zambelli. On 25 July 2019, he was expelled from Democrats (DEM) political party after being arrested. On 14 May 2025, the Supreme Federal Court unanimously convicted Delgatti to 8 years and 3 months of prison for hacking the systems of the N
Background
Walter Delgatti Neto was born on 23 March 1989 and is known by the nicknames Vermelho (Portuguese for "Red," a reference to his red hair) and Hacker de Araraquara ("Araraquara Hacker"). Before achieving national notoriety, he had accumulated a criminal record spanning several years. In 2013, he was convicted in a second-instance ruling for embezzling R$ 600,000 from a bank, though he was not imprisoned due to crime prescription. In 2015, he was convicted for scam-related offenses. In 2018, he was indicted for drug trafficking and document fraud after police discovered drugs, false medical prescriptions, and a fraudulent student ID; he was ultimately acquitted on those charges.
Vaza Jato and Operation Spoofing
Delgatti rose to national prominence in 2019 when The Intercept Brasil published a series of private communications involving authorities connected to Operation Car Wash, Brazil's wide-ranging anti-corruption investigation. The leaked messages suggested violations of impartiality, including exchanges in which judge Sergio Moro allegedly guided prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol and other members of the operation. Delgatti later confessed to the Federal Police that he was responsible for hacking the mobile phones of Moro and other authorities, and for providing the intercepted material to The Intercept Brasil. The press described him as "the hacker who buried [Operation] Car Wash."
The journalists at The Intercept Brasil declined to pay for the information. According to subsequent court findings, Delgatti's group had negotiated the sale of stolen information for R$ 200,000 before abandoning the attempt to charge for publication. On 21 August 2021, following investigations under Operation Spoofing, Delgatti was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. At the time of that conviction, he was already under arrest for a separate offense involving the National Council of Justice (CNJ) systems.
Involvement with Carla Zambelli and Jair Bolsonaro
In statements to the Federal Police, Delgatti claimed he had been hired by congresswoman Carla Zambelli to carry out criminal hacking services. He alleged that Zambelli sought to compromise the mobile phone of Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes and to tamper with electronic voting machines. Federal Police records indicated that Zambelli's advisor sent a R$ 13,500 Pix payment to Delgatti.
After unsuccessful attempts to breach the Superior Electoral Court's systems, Delgatti managed to hack the CNJ system and issue a fraudulent arrest warrant against Justice Alexandre de Moraes, forged with Moraes' own signature.
During a parliamentary commission investigating the 8 January 2023 attack on the Praça dos Três Poderes, Delgatti alleged that he had met with then-president Jair Bolsonaro on 10 August 2022, in Zambelli's presence. He claimed Bolsonaro requested that he compromise the electronic voting system to cast doubt on the integrity of Brazilian elections. When Delgatti explained that the voting system was not connected to the internet and could not be remotely breached, he alleged Bolsonaro then asked him to tamper with a voting machine to make it appear compromised ahead of the elections. Bolsonaro's allies sought to discredit Delgatti and his account.
Delgatti further stated that he spoke with Bolsonaro a second time by phone, during which Bolsonaro allegedly indicated that Justice Moraes' phone had been wiretapped and asked Delgatti to assume full responsibility if the wiretapping became public, in exchange for a presidential pardon. Bolsonaro's defense denied all of these claims.
Legal Proceedings and Convictions
On 29 February 2024, the Federal Police concluded its inquiry and formally indicted both Zambelli and Delgatti for the CNJ system intrusion. On 23 April 2024, Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet filed a criminal complaint against both, with Zambelli identified as the head of the criminal scheme. On 21 May 2024, both became defendants before the Supreme Court's 1st Group.
In July 2024, a judge of the 3rd Criminal Circuit of Brasília convicted Delgatti for defamation against former president Jair Bolsonaro.
On 14 May 2025, the Supreme Federal Court unanimously convicted Delgatti to 8 years and 3 months in prison for hacking the CNJ systems. Congresswoman Zambelli was convicted in the same ruling. The sentence was confirmed in June 2025.
Delgatti was also expelled from the Democrats (DEM) political party on 25 July 2019, following his arrest.
