Brazilian Supreme Court suspends investigation into FGV corruption; breach of secrecy could expose the court

A Federal Police (PF) operation launched on Thursday (Nov. 17) against Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) may expose the entity’s financial relationship with members of higher courts in Brasília (DF), such as the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

The PF’s task force dismantled a scheme of corruption, money laundering, currency evasion, and fraud in tenders involving the institution.

Claiming the incompetence of the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro, Supreme Court (STF) Justice Gilmar Mendes suspended the investigations into crimes of corruption, fraud, and money laundering against members of the Simonsen family, founder of Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV).

According to the Justice, the case should be investigated by the state court of Rio de Janeiro.

At least three members of the Simonsen family are targets of the Federal Police (PF) which investigates the organization of a criminal scheme inside FGV.

FGV has sponsored legal events linked to entities that have ties with magistrates. It is also responsible for the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) exam.

The police are investigating whether FGV was used to issue legal opinions and studies that, according to the investigation, served to disguise payments of bribes to public officials.

The operation, called Sofisma, began in 2019 after the PF received information that federal and state agencies used the institution to manufacture opinions that masked the misuse of the purpose of contracts, which resulted in the payment of bribes, functioning as an actual “legal screen”.

The Federal Police says that those involved overcharged contracts made by waiving the bidding process and defrauded “bidding procedures, covering up the illegal direct hiring of companies appointed by public agents, front companies created by its executives and providing, through payment of bribes, advantages to companies that competed in tenders coordinated by it.

According to the investigations, to hide the embezzled money, “several executives held offshore companies in tax havens such as Switzerland, the Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas, indicating not only money laundering but also currency and tax evasion.

The police are investigating whether FGV was used to issue legal opinions and studies that, according to the investigation, served to disguise payments of bribes to public officials.

In 2009, the Foundation won a R$3.2 million bid from the CNJ to provide consulting services on implementing a new model for strategic management and administrative control of the Judiciary.

According to Folha de São Paulo, the program was coordinated by CNJ and reached 91 courts in the country, including “the Federal Supreme Court, the Superior Court of Justice, the higher courts (Electoral, Military and Labor); state courts, military courts and regional courts (federal, electoral and labor), in addition to three councils of justice – among which the CNJ”.

FGV competed for the bid with GYC Consultoria; Instituto Publix; Key Consultoria e Treinamento, and Symnetics Consultoria Empresarial.