RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Police triggered on Tuesday morning a new stage of the Lava Jato operation that aims to investigate fraud in contracts signed by companies of the Oi/Telemar group in favor of Gamecorp/Gol, controlled by the son of former president Lula, Fábio Luis Lula da Silva, or Lulinha, and his partners Fernando Bittar, Kalil Bittar, and Jonas Suassuna.
The Prosecutor’s Office called for the arrest of Lula’s son, his partners and five other directors of the Gol Group; however, Judge Gabriela Hardt, of the 14th Circuit Court of Curitiba, understood that “there is currently no need to decree the temporary arrest of those under investigation”.
In her order authorizing the search and seizure, Hardt argues that the accused have already been the target of proceedings in 2016, and are aware of the investigations. In any event, Hardt states that the evidence points to “the existence of strong evidence of crimes such as corruption, influence peddling, criminal organization, and money laundering”.
Named ‘Mapa da Mina’ (“Mine Map”), the new stage, the 69th of the operation, was ordered by the Federal Court of Curitiba and includes 47 search and seizure warrants in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and the Federal District, and involves some 200 federal police officers, supported by 15 tax auditors from the Federal Treasury, according to the Federal Police (PF).
The name of the operation was taken from an electronic file of internal financial reporting of Lula’s son’s company, contained in the material seized in the 24th stage of Lava Jato, which would point as a “mine map” the sources of funds coming from the largest telecom company under investigation.
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of Paraná (MPF-PR), investigations suggest that payments made by the telecommunications company between 2004 and 2016 -in excess of R$132 million- were not economically justifiable. The Office of the Prosecutor-General believes that part of these funds was used to purchase the Atibaia ranch, located in the interior of São Paulo.
Ex-President Lula was convicted and received a sentence of 17 years, one month and ten days imprisonment for having received an undue advantage from OAS and Odebrecht contractors for the payment of property reforms, which, according to the indictment, belongs to the ex-president, although he is not its formal owner – the property is in the name of Fernando Bittar, Lulinha’s partner at Gamecorp.
“The action produced today by the Lava Jato Task Force is yet another demonstration of the fumbling of prosecutors addicted to the spotlight who, unscrupulously, resort to juggling in the effort to harass me, illegally pursuing my children and my family.”
– Lula (@OficialLula) December 10th, 2019
The note issued by the Federal Police, however, which does not mention the companies under investigation, states that the amount of transfers determined so far totals R$193 million (US$48 million) between 2005 and 2016.
In return for the contracts with the telecom company, the MPF-PR believes that the Oi/Telemar group was benefited by several acts practiced by the federal government, among them decree nº 6.654/2008, signed by the then-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which allowed the take-over of Brasil Telecom by the Oi/Telemar group. “Messages seized in the course of the investigations also show that the Oi/Telemar group was benefited by the appointment of Anatel’s counselor”, says the MPR-PR.
In a note, Oi reports that it “acts openly and has provided all the required data and details requested by the authorities, ensuring full and complete cooperation with the relevant authorities”.
The investigations show that Gamecorp/Gol, which is part of the companies G4 Entretenimento e Tecnologia Digital, Gamecorp, Editora Gol, Gol Mídia, Gol Mobile, Goal Discos, Coskin, PJA Empreendimentos, and PDI, did not have manpower and compatible assets to provide the services for which it was hired by the telecommunications group. Between 2005 and 2016, the Oi/Telemar group was responsible for 74 percent of Gamecorp’s collections.
“Records collected, such as contracts and invoices, in addition to data extracted from the removal of banking and tax confidentiality of those under investigation, suggest that the companies of the Oi/Telemar group invested and hired the Gamecorp/Gol group without quoting prices from other suppliers, made payments that were higher than the amounts contracted and practiced in the market, and made payments for non-fulfilled services,” reports the MPF-PR.
The telecommunications company R.T Serviços Especializados (R.T Specialized Services) is also suspected to have made transfers, which paid several bills of the former Presidential Chief of Staff José Dirceu. Evidence shows that the former minister actively participated in negotiations in favor of the Oi/Telemar group with the Federal Government.
The Federal Police is also executing search and seizure warrants to investigate evidence of irregularities in the relationship between the Gamecorp/Gol group and Vivo/Telefônica. The target is the project called Nuvem de Livros (‘ Cloud of Books’), described on the company’s website as a virtual library with a great variety of topics, where the subscriber has access to one hundred fiction books and reference works from national and international publishers, upon payment of a monthly subscription of R$17.99.
Between 2014 and 2016, Movile Mobile Internet and Gol Publishing recorded a turnover of around R$40 million. In the first version of the press release, the MPF-PR reported that the company Movile Internet was part of the Telefônica group, which was rectified.
The decision authorizing the search and seizure of Telefônica states that since 2011 the Gol Group, one of the companies whose partner is Lula’s son, was attempting to negotiate the sale of the product ‘Cloud of Books’ with Telefônica to the company’s mobile users.
Fernando Bittar and Jonas Suassuna traveled with Lula to Spain in March 2011, in a delegation attended by Antonio Carlos Valente, president of Telefônica at the time. The product became part of the company’s portfolio in June 2012, through Movile, called in the order “company linked to the Telefônica concessionaire group (Vivo)”, in charge of the collection.
The communication advisor of the State of Paraná’s Prosecutor-General also reported that e-mails were found in which it is recorded that the project ‘Cloud of Books’ was handled with Alexandre Manuel Madeira Fernandes, ex-director of Vivo.
“Besides, according to the e-mail included in the representation, a meeting to discuss the subject was held at the headquarters of Vivo/SP. These facts, by themselves, do not mean that the director has committed a crime but require clarification. The fact will continue to be investigated,” according to the MPF-PR.
Through a note, Telefônica confirms that the Federal Police is today in its headquarters in São Paulo. “The company is providing all the information requested and will continue to cooperate with the authorities. Telefônica reiterates its commitment to high ethical standards of conduct in all its management and procedures”.
Source: El País