Brasilia, May 4 : Brazil's Federal Police have raided former President Jair Bolsonaro's private residence in capital Brasilia and seized his cell phone as part of an investigation into an alleged falsification of Covid-19 vaccination records.

Police said they were investigating "false data" allegedly added to a national Covid-19 database between November 2021 and December 2022, when Bolsonaro was president. "As a result, they were able to issue vaccine certificates and use them to circumvent restrictions imposed by authorities in Brazil and the US." Bolsonaro confirmed the raid and reiterated that he had never taken a Covid vaccine. He denied any role in allegedly forging documents. "For my part, there was nothing falsified. I didn't take the vaccine. Period," he said. The police said they were serving 16 search warrants and six preventive arrest warrants in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. Two sources said police had arrested personal assistants to Bolsonaro.