Former anchor of Jornal Hoje, Cláudia Cruz now sells orchids

Known nationally in the 1990s for having been a member of Jornal Hoje (1991-1999) and Fantástico (1990-1997), on Globo, journalist Cláudia Cruz, 57, completely changed her life. She left the television spotlight aside and is currently dedicated to selling orchids.

Married to the former president of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, Cláudia is the owner of Maison de l’orchidée, a store located in the Village Mall, in Barra da Tijuca, West Zone of Rio.

The store is frequented by celebrities, such as Susana Vieira, who was photographed next to it on a visit to the establishment.

Cláudia left the life of TV communication in 2003 after a stint at Record. In an interview with the website Lu Lacerda, she said that she started in this area after realizing that orchids were expensive and deciding to make arrangements on her own.

“My husband thought it was great and suggested I make it a business. At the time, I was very scared, but in the same week, I looked for a name, patented it, selected species of orchids, carriers, courses in Rio and SP. The Maison was born nine months later,” he said.

In 2016, Cláudia became a defendant in an Operation Lava Jato case on charges of money laundering and currency evasion, for using money from an account abroad that had been supplied with bribes from Petrobras, according to the Public Ministry.

In testimony to the then federal judge Sergio Moro, the journalist said at that time that she had “not the slightest idea” where the money that paid her expenses abroad came from.

In 2018, the TRF-4 (Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region) sentenced the journalist to two years and six months in prison for currency evasion. The sentence, in an open regime, can be replaced by restrictive rights.

The court reviewed judge Sergio Moro’s decision from May 2017, when Cláudia Cruz had been acquitted.