Damares is investigated for irregularities during the Bolsonaro government

Damares Alves’ passage through the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH), during the Bolsonaro government, did not just represent a victory for evangelical conservatism in the country. It showed how she would have favored a group of parliamentarians and entities run by friends, who received government funds to supposedly assist needy women, whose resources were diverted.

At least two investigations pointed to evidence of irregular application of public money through NGOs that offered professional courses to people in socially vulnerable situations. The most recent investigation involves two entities based in Rio de Janeiro, suspected of having embezzled at least R$ 2.5 million from public coffers.

The institutions benefited, according to a report by the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) and investigations by the PF, were the Institute for Social and Human Development of Brazil (IDSH) and the National Institute for Human Development (INADH).

These two entities entered into partnerships with the Ministry of Women, headed by Damares, and totaled BRL 25.1 million in suspicious contracts between 2019 and 2021.

The NGOs promised to hold courses aimed at underprivileged women, prisoners and victims of domestic violence, but part of the money ended up in shell companies.

In the analyzed partnerships, evidence was found of favoring companies linked to the directors who, in turn, had connections with deputies friends of Damares Alves, currently holding the position of senator for the Republicans of the DF. The resources were transferred through parliamentary amendments.

The authors were deputies Otoni de Paula (MDB-RJ), Laura Carneiro (PSD-RJ) and Gelson Azevedo (PL-RJ), who was not re-elected. In the IDSH and INADH contracts, there are several irregularities and evidence of fraud in bids, with the aim of benefiting companies linked to the interests of the directors of the investigated entities.

At IDSH, the report cites at least two former advisors of former deputy Professor Joziel (Republicanos-RJ) as involved in the scheme. In videos released on the internet, the politician appears next to the then minister, who calls him a “friend” and a “pity”.

shell companies

The IDSH, which is commanded by Bruno Rodrigues, has as directors Leandro Bastos Silva and Clayton Elias Motta, two former advisors of Professor Joziel. Clayton is even one of the owners of Total Service Rio, whose name appears twice in the CGU report as being involved in the fraud.

Among the irregularities is the hiring of companies with ghost partners or without the technical capacity to perform the services they had promised.

One of the cases cited involves the company Globo Soluções Tecnológicas, which was hired by IDSH and INADH for R$ 11.7 million to supply computers and equipment for baking, cutting and sewing, as well as teachers to teach the courses promised by the two entities.

How the schemes worked

1) NGOs
Organizations from Rio de Janeiro and Sergipe asked federal deputies for help in obtaining funds, through parliamentary amendments, from deputies such as Otoni de Paula (MDB-RJ), Laura Carneiro (PSD-RJ) and Professor Joziel (former federal deputy).

2) Amendments
In all cases, the amendments were mandatory, that is, the government was obliged to carry out the transfers.

3) Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries and others involved were close to the then Minister of Women and Human Rights, Damares Alves, either in Congress or in the direction of the entities that received the funds.

4) Resources
Resources reached the entities and were even invested in professional courses for underprivileged young people, but investigations by the CGU and the PF showed evidence of deviations in at least two entities that received around R$ 30 million each.

5) Fraud
The frauds investigated by the CGU indicate so far that at least R$2.5 million were embezzled from public coffers.

The CGU found that, in three contracts signed with the two entities, the company would receive R$ 3.8 million, but the company’s registration addresses, as well as the Federal Revenue information, were incompatible.

The company’s headquarters is a shack in Rio de Janeiro and its partner, Sara Vicente Bibiano, received emergency aid during the pandemic.

For the CGU, the company is one of the main links between the INADH and the IDSH and, therefore, would be behind the whole scheme involving the diversion of public resources.

After the CGU investigation was triggered, the IDSH was obliged to return R$ 1.1 million to the federal government, because of the irregularities found.

The scheme in the two Rio de Janeiro entities is similar to another already investigated by the PF, in the Bartimeu Operation, which investigates deviations of R$ 1.7 million, involving an NGO from Aracaju, which also received resources from the folder commanded by Damares, but would have diverted most of the money, promoting the hiring of fraudulent or overpriced services.

So far, no one has been arrested as a result of these suspicions, whose processes are under secrecy in the Federal Court, in Sergipe.

The Sergipe NGO is the Association of Visually Impaired Young Apprentices (Ajacdevi), presided over by Mafra Meris, a lawyer who presents herself as counselor of the Federal Court, in Aracaju. She also ran a game show for teenagers on the TV affiliate Record in Sergipe. On social media, Mafra Meris posed with Damares several times.

According to PF investigations, Ajacdevi received funds to supposedly invest in education and inclusion in the labor market for adolescents and young adults, but allegedly diverted all the money received.

The funds were also transferred through parliamentary amendments, one of which was authored by the Commission for Participatory Legislation, of the Chamber of Deputies.

Frauds were detected from employees of the ministry itself. Damares has said this would prove her innocence. Sought by ISTOÉ, the senator stated that “not only did it take all the appropriate measures, but it also anticipated it, triggering the audit by the CGU”.

*With information from IstoÉ

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