It is false that Lula reappointed Nestor Cerveró to Petrobras – 05/30/2023 – Power

It is false that the chemical engineer Nestor Cuñat Cerveró, 71, was reappointed to the position of director of the international area of ​​Petrobras by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). This would not be possible, starting with the fact that the position he held was extinct from the state-owned company.

In addition to being convicted in 2016 by the Federal Court in second instance, Cerveró, as verified by the Comprova Project, was also held responsible by the TCU (Union Court of Auditors), the following year, for the purchase of the Pasadena refinery, in the United States, by Petrobras in 2006, which prevents him from holding public office in commission for eight years.

On May 14, columnist Lauro Jardim, from the newspaper O Globo reported that Cerveró’s lawyer and former partner in an offshore company, Marcelo de Oliveira Mello, was appointed to head Petrobras’ legal department. The article says nothing, however, about Cerveró’s alleged appointment to the oil company.

Petrobras, in a note to the report, informed that Nestor Cerveró has no connection with the company.

False, for Comprova, is content that was invented or that has been edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disseminated to spread a falsehood.

Reach

Comprova investigates suspicious content with greater reach on social networks. As of May 29, the publication on Twitter had 376 shares, 2,500 likes and 117,000 views. On Telegram, until the same date, the content had been viewed 7,100 times.

How do we check

The first step was to search the press for news about the appointment of Nestor Cerveró to Petrobras and, then, about the current composition of the company’s board of directors and the model for hiring directors. We also researched Cerveró’s relationship with the company, what positions he took on, what his career was like and how he left the state-owned company.

We contacted Petrobras to find out whether Cerveró is part of the board of directors or has been recently appointed to the board. We also questioned what his current involvement with the company would be.

The STF (Federal Supreme Court) and the Federal Court of Paraná were also contacted about the status of the processes to which it responds as a result of Operation Lava Jato. Comprova also sought the defense of the former director of Petrobras to clarify Cerveró’s current legal situation. However, there was no response until the publication of this check.

defunct board

As a result of the cases of corruption investigated from 2014 onwards in Operation Lava Jato, Petrobras made a change in the company’s organization chart and extinguished the then International Area board, replacing it, in November of that year, with the Governance, Risk and Conformity. The first director appointed was João Adalberto Elek Júnior, in January 2015, after a selection process conducted by the company Korn Ferry. Today, the position is occupied by Mário Spinelli.

In 2020, the Board of Directors of Petrobras approved another change in the organizational chart, with the creation of the Logistics department and the extinction of the Corporate Affairs department, which had its activities reallocated to other departments of the company. This year, in April, a new organizational change was approved, but it maintained the number of eight boards, in addition to the presidency.

Currently, Petrobras’ governing body is made up of:

• Jean Paul Terra Prates – President;
• Carlos José do Nascimento Travassos – Executive Director of Engineering, Technology and Innovation;
• Clarice Coppetti – Executive Director of Corporate Affairs;
• Claudio Romeo Schlosser – Executive Director of Logistics, Commercialization and Markets;
• Joelson Falcão Mendes – Executive Director of Exploration and Production;
• Mário Spinelli – Governance and Compliance Executive Officer;
• Mauricio Tolmasquim – Executive Director of Energy Transition and Sustainability;
• Sergio Caetano Leite – Chief Financial and Investor Relations Officer; It is
• William França da Silva – Executive Director of Industrial Processes and Products.

In addition, Petrobras’ board of directors is formed in an election process defined by the company’s Board of Directors. The Board is currently made up of 11 members elected at the General Shareholders’ Meeting for a term of up to two years, with three consecutive re-elections permitted. Six of the members are appointed by the controlling shareholder (federal government), four by the minority shareholders and one elected by the employees.

Among the members of the Executive Board, only the company’s president can sit on the Board of Directors. However, the president, currently Jean Paul Prates, cannot exercise the presidency of the Council, commanded by Pietro Adamo Sampaio Mendes. It is possible, however, to have political indications for the composition of the board, even if the approval of the Board is necessary for the exercise of the position.

Who is Nestor Cervero

Nestor Cuñat Cerveró, 71, is a chemical engineer who served as director of the international area at Petrobras between 2003 and 2008. He had been a career employee at the oil company since 1975.

Also in 2008, he became CFO of BR Distribuidora, which was a subsidiary of the state-owned company until 2017, when it began to be privatized in a process that ended in 2021, changing its name to Vibra Energia. Cerveró was in the position appointed by then President Lula and remained until 2014.

The former director became known when he became the target of investigations in Operation Lava Jato, with the aim of unraveling cases of corruption involving Petrobras, which culminated in his dismissal from his position at BR Distribuidora. He was arrested in January 2015 as soon as he landed at Galeão Airport, in Rio de Janeiro, on his way back from London (England) on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. For these crimes, the former director was sentenced to five years in prison in a closed regime months later.

Cerveró is also known for having been responsible for the report, in 2006, on the purchase of the oil refinery in Pasadena, in the United States, which generated losses for Petrobras. At the time, the state company paid US$ 360 million for 50% of the refinery, an amount much higher than what was paid a year earlier by the Belgian Astra Oil for the entire refinery (US$ 42.5 million).

Former president Dilma Rousseff (PT) was the chairman of the Board of Directors of Petrobras at the time of the purchase of the refinery and stated, in a statement to the Attorney General’s Office, in 2014, that she was in favor of the acquisition because she did not know the details of the contract to be signed.

In 2016, Cerveró closed a plea agreement in which he said that the former president would be aware of details of the negotiation related to the purchase of Pasadena.

In 2017, the Federal Court of Auditors condemned the former director and former president of Petrobras José Sérgio Gabrielli for his involvement in the business involving the refinery, while Dilma and the Council were cleared. Cerveró and Gabrielli were also barred from holding any public office in commission for eight years.

Cerveró’s denunciation was the subject of other controversies, as there was the accusation that he would have been a passive party in a process of obstruction of justice, so that a group would have tried to buy his silence. In the complaint, President Lula and former Senator Delcídio do Amaral (PT-MS) were identified as members of this group.

The action was also based on the testimony of Bernardo Cerveró, actor and son of Nestor, who recorded a meeting with the former senator, in which he would have promised him financial aid. They were acquitted in the process in 2018.

Law Suit

For the crime of money laundering, Nestor Cerveró was sentenced to prison, in an initially closed regime, for five years in a decision by the then federal judge, now senator, Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR), in May 2015.

The decision refers to the purchase of a luxury apartment in the neighborhood of Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, for his own use, but on behalf of a company, with money he received as a bribe from Petrobras. This was the first conviction of the former director of the state-owned company, who was arrested in Curitiba (PR).

In August of the same year, as a result of a criminal proceeding, Cerveró was sentenced for passive corruption and money laundering to 12 years and 3 months in prison, in addition to having to return R$ 17 million to Petrobras. The process referred to the contracting by Petrobras of Samsung Heavy Industries to supply drillships for deep water drilling.

In June 2016, after a plea bargain agreement with the MPF (Federal Public Prosecution Service) and homologated by the STF, he began to serve house arrest at the family home in Itaipava, in Rio de Janeiro, monitored by an electronic ankle bracelet and unable to leave the country.

At the end of that year, the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4) increased Cerveró’s sentence to 27 years and four months in prison.

In 2022, in May, Cerveró regained the right to leave the country. Official letter from the 12th Federal Court of Curitiba reported that he has already served “the custodial and rights-restricting sentences provided for in his Awarded Collaboration Agreement”.

What the publisher says

The report got in touch with the @mspbra profile via Facebook and email on May 30. Until the completion of this check, no response was received.

What can we learn from this check

The disinformation content in question rescues a name involved in legal proceedings and famous for cases of corruption and links it to an appointment to a state-owned company. In this case, a press survey would be effective to verify that Nestor Cerveró was not appointed to a Petrobras board, given that he is a well-known person and his return to public office would be widely publicized.

It is necessary to be attentive to the fuss caused by disinformers when citing these names. When you come across messages about a person being linked to a government position, look for news and also access official channels, such as the Official Gazette (DOU), states or municipalities, or even the websites of state companies or ministries, where are the organizational charts of the bodies or entities.

why do we investigate

Comprova monitors suspicious content posted on social networks and messaging apps about public policies and elections at the federal level and opens investigations for those publications that have achieved greater reach and engagement. You can also suggest checks via WhatsApp +55 11 97045-4984. Suggestions and questions related to questionable content can also be sent to Sheet via WhatsApp 11 99486-0293.

Other checks on the topic

Petrobras and Operation Lava Jato are often targets of misinformation. Comprova has already carried out checks such as the one it classifies as a fake video that tries to link Lula’s son to Petrobras and fuel increases, in addition to having produced the explanatory content What was Operation Lava Jato.