CGU finds Codevasf donations in private area and cites risks – 02/07/2023 – Power

The CGU (Controladoria Geral da União) found that vehicles and equipment donated by Codevasf end up in private properties, are used subject to fees and are even destined for entities headed by politicians.

The investigation points to the risk of deviations in equipment donations to associations, which are made without any criteria or technical study and without monitoring its destination.

Codevasf (Companhia de Desenvolvimento dos Vales do São Francisco e do Parnaíba) is the state-owned company delivered in the management of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to the centrão. Now, the company is coveted by the same group during the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

In addition to donating vehicles to city halls, the state-owned company also benefits private entities with deliveries that include bakery kits and freezers, aluminum boats, vans, dump trucks, garbage trucks, tractors, agricultural implements, motor graders and backhoe loaders.

To facilitate the flow of values, Codevasf even created a catalog of goods for politicians to choose how to please their strongholds and indicate to the state-owned company where, when and how to spend.

For auditors, this type of unsupervised practice entails the risk of undue advantages and deviations.

Last year, before the elections, the company made up to R$ 100 thousand per hour in donations, with the distribution of equipment among political allies of the government and parliamentarians.

An investigation released last week verifies donations totaling almost R$ 100 million, made by the Bahia unit of Codevasf based in Bom Jesus da Lapa, area of ​​influence of federal deputy Elmar Nascimento (União).

One of the audit tasks involved tracking the destination of the equipment, by sampling. Of the nine donated vehicles and machines checked, in two cases the equipment was found on private property.

“The equipment donated to the Association of Small Rural Producers of the Cubicle, based in the municipality of Cocos, was located on private property belonging to the president of the association, who is also a councilor of that municipality”, says the investigation.

According to agents, other donations were also found at the scene.

The name of the politician does not appear in the publication. However, the president of the entity in question, according to the donation contract made last year, is Gregson Luz, councilor for the União Brasil party in the city.

He is an ally of Elmar Nascimento, as shown by publication on his social networks.

“Elmar already has a history in our city, we’ve already voted, we’ve worked for Elmar Nascimento and we’ve already been honored by his parliamentary amendments. Elmar Nascimento has already benefited our people with tractors, agricultural implements, shovels, pipes”, said the councilor during an event with the federal deputy, as shown in his publication in August last year.

Such as Sheet revealed, Codevasf carried out the installation of cisterns by the state-owned company in houses marked with Elmar campaign stickers, in the rural area of ​​Juazeiro (BA), at the end of September.

The federal deputy appointed the current national president of Codevasf and the regional superintendent of the state-owned company in Bahia.

The report found more than BRL 700,000 in donations to the Association of Small Rural Producers of the Cubicle in 2022, which include a BRL 441,000 tipper truck, tubes, irrigation kits, among others.

Asked by Sheet, the councilor stated that the vehicle was not found “exactly” on his property. “It is on the property of one of the associates and because it is a safe place, with cameras and a 24-hour caretaker on site, since the region had been suffering from small thefts in neighboring properties”.

The report asked for more details about the location, but the councilor only said that it was “where the association’s headquarters will be built” and that it would be important for the report to go there to obtain further clarification.

The CGU also stated that a representative of the entity heard would have said “that the equipment will be individually transferred to six communities in the region, upon collection of rent and fees for use”.

A Sheet Gregson Luz stated that there is a misunderstanding about the charge and that every association needs members to pay a monthly fee and “in addition to the expenses with fuel and daily driver and on behalf of those who need the good”.

The auditors also found a machine donated to the Associação da Comunidade de São João, based in the municipality of Santa Maria da Vitória, on private property in another city, in São Félix do Coribe. According to the person interviewed by the auditors, the use would also be shared with third parties.

The report did not locate anyone responsible for this entity.

“In view of the situations exposed, it is considered that the absence of control elements by Codevasf leads to the existence of conditions for the risks of inefficient use of program resources to materialize, of deviation from purpose and even that individuals eventually appropriate of the objects of the donations”, say the auditors.

In addition, according to the CGU, Codevasf also does not carry out studies on the cases and “has its activities restricted to carrying out acquisitions and transfers to beneficiaries indicated by parliamentarians”.

Donations meet the social interest, says federal government

Questioned, Codevasf stated that the donations “serve the social interest and are undertaken within the scope of development projects and actions”.

According to the state company, the donation of machines and equipment to associations and cooperatives happens when there is a favorable technical opinion.

Asked about the location of donations on private properties, the company stated that “the use of donated equipment on the properties of associates and cooperative members is an inherent characteristic of the social objective of the donation”.

“In addition, many of the entities do not have their own headquarters; in these cases, their meetings take place in places such as schools, churches and sports fields. “, says Codevasf.

Regarding the collection of fees, the company stated that the deliberation is “exclusive of the benefited entity, for payment of inputs, taxes, labor, repairs and related costs”.

The company also stated that it analyzes the results achieved by donations through sampling.