Survey: 700 Investigations Stalled in Brazil After Justice Toffoli’s COAF Decision

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) has 700 investigations and criminal proceedings paralyzed as a result of the decision of the Presiding Justice of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Justice Dias Toffoli, suspending cases where data was shared by inspection and monitoring bodies – such as the Federal Treasury, the Central Bank, and the former Council for Control of Financial Activities (COAF) – without prior judicial authorization.

The survey was conducted by the Criminal Chamber of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

According to the MPF, the data are partial and the number of paralyzed cases may be even greater. The survey considers only suspended investigations in the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. The last update is from October 24th.

The information was released by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The survey points to the stagnation of cases involving tax crimes, laundering or concealment of assets, crimes against the National Financial System, smuggling and embezzlement, active and passive corruption, embezzlement, and social welfare evasion.

In a note, Luiza Cristina Frischeisen, deputy prosecutor general and coordinator of the Chamber in charge of the survey, pointed out that the impact of Toffoli’s decision is immense.

Luiza pointed out that the lack of financial data may be detrimental to the investigations, particularly with regard to the Financial Intelligence Report (RIF) – prepared by the former COAF and generally used as a basis for requests to lift banking confidentiality.

According to her, the decision also undermined the fight against organized crime.

The deputy prosecutor general says that there were “dubious aspects” in Toffoli’s decision and that it “created a scenario of tremendous legal insecurity in the country.”

The order was based on a petition from Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the target of an investigation by the Rio Prosecutor’s Office into alleged money laundering while exercising his mandate as a Rio de Janeiro state deputy, but the decision indiscriminately affects all current proceedings that use COAF’s data.

The Justice’s individual decision should prevail until November, when the Supreme Court will put the matter to a vote in plenary session.

According to Luiza, Toffoli’s decision bureaucratizes justice and contradicts guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Financial Action Task Force (GAFI).

In the opinion of the deputy prosecutor general, these entities bodies ‘explicitly’ recommend that information from oversight agencies be accessible and shared with the prosecutor’s office, without the need for judicial authorization. The point had already been raised by the Task Forces of Operation Lava Jato and Operation Greenfield.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo