A Brazilian congresswoman has been accused of orchestrating the murder of her pastor husband, after multiple botched attempts.

Flordelis dos Santos de Souza’s husband, Anderson do Carmo, was shot 30 times at their home in Rio de Janeiro in June 2019.

Ms de Souza, 59, said her husband, 42, had been killed in a robbery.

But prosecutors say they have unearthed a murder plot, implicating Ms de Souza and several of her children.

Ms de Souza, a celebrity lawmaker for Rio de Janeiro who found fame as a gospel singer before entering politics, has dismissed the allegations, insisting she is innocent.

On Monday, prosecutors announced charges against Ms de Souza and 10 others, including six of her children and one granddaughter. Arrest warrants were issued against nine of the accused.

Police could not arrest Ms de Souza, known as Flordelis to her fans, because her status as an elected lawmaker affords her parliamentary immunity.

Instead, detectives have written to Congress with details of their investigation, 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.