Lava Jato judge criticizes Odebrecht deal – 05/23/2023 – Power

Judge Eduardo Appio, removed this Monday (22) from Operation Lava Jato proceedings at the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, said he saw “evidence of illegality” in Odebrecht’s leniency agreement, signed in 2017 between the contractor and the MPF (Federal Public Ministry), and approved by the then judge of the case, now Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR).

In a decision signed last Tuesday (16th) in the midst of the process involving the contractor, Appio said that the agreement is “potentially illegal because it was conceived and signed behind four walls and without the participation of the Union (most interested in the case)”.

In the same decision, he withdrew all secrecy of the process and sent letters to the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União), to the Federal Police in Brasília and also to the Corregedoria Nacional de Justiça, stating that the facts “may deserve investigation by competent bodies”.

Sought, former judge Moro denied that there were irregularities in the agreement and said that at the time there was approval by the higher body of the Federal Public Ministry.

Leniency is a kind of corporate denunciation, usually signed with the intention of allowing the company to maintain contracts with the public authorities. In the case of Odebrecht, now renamed Novonor, it was signed in parallel with the whistleblowing agreements of 78 executives, in an initiative that had international repercussions.

Collaboration was negotiated jointly with Swiss and US authorities.

In this month’s dispatch, Appio wrote that “not only was the Brazilian State not represented —as it should have— when this billionaire leniency agreement was signed, but also the interests of foreign bodies (US and Swiss) were, in theory, represented by attorneys” of the Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office.

“It should be noted that in one of the first orders issued by the then federal judge Sergio Moro (now an elected politician) expressly mentions the safeguarding of the financial interests of Brazil (with Z), the United States and Switzerland, but without it being included in the leniency agreement the signature of a single representative of the Brazilian government”, criticizes the new Lava Jato judge, in the same decision.

Appio justified his decision to withdraw the secrecy of data from the agreement by stating that “light is the best disinfectant” and that there is “great public interest in the effective inspection of the values ​​​​obtained under agreements” and criminal fines by the Federal Court of Lava Jato .

Also in a critical tone, he mentioned the allocation of “billionaire amounts” over the last few years by the Federal Court.

A Sheet sought out the CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) and the AGU (Attorney General of the Union) this Monday to comment on the matter, and both bodies recalled another leniency agreement they made with Odebrecht in July 2018, the following year to the commitment signed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

“This agreement, although it has parallels with the agreement mentioned by federal judge Eduardo Appio (similar facts of federal competence) is an autonomous and independent instrument, based on the legal competences provided for in Law 12.846/2013”, says the CGU note, in reference to to the Anti-Corruption Law.

The CGU also says that it is “the competent body to enter into leniency agreements within the scope of the federal Executive Branch, as well as in the case of harmful acts committed against the foreign public administration”.

In other words, the leniency agreement signed between the CGU/AGU and Odebrecht does not need to be submitted for judicial approval.

“Even if the illegality of the agreement signed within the scope of Operation Lava Jato is decided, such illegality does not affect the agreement signed with the Union through the CGU and the AGU”, concludes the note.

In the agreement approved in 2017 by Moro, the business group agreed to pay a fine of R$ 3.8 billion, in 23 annual installments, with correction by the Selic rate. At the time, a final total of around BRL 8.5 billion was estimated – in a calculation that was not detailed.

In the agreement signed with the AGU and CGU the following year, it was stated that there would not be a double charge.

In the decision approving the leniency agreement, in 2017, Moro also mentions that part of the amounts, 17.9% of the global amount, would be allocated to the United States Department of Justice and the Attorney General of Switzerland, which received criticism from Appio, in his dispatch.

A Sheet now senator Sergio Moro said that the leniency agreement was widely publicized at the time and that secrecy was preserved “only on the attached documents in order to protect the investigations”.

The senator added that the 2017 agreement did not exclude the possibility of the Union, represented by the AGU, “making the additional agreement, as it was done”. He also called the compromise the “biggest settlement in a corruption case, in monetary terms, in world history”.

In charge of the Federal Court of Lava Jato since February, Judge Eduardo Appio has reviewed measures of his predecessors in a critical tone to the conduct of processes by colleagues.

The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office wants him to declare himself prevented from judging the operation’s processes for political manifestations.

In an interview with GloboNews this Monday, the magistrate confirmed that he used the login “LUL22” in the justice system until this year. He said it was an “isolated and individual protest” against an arrest that he considered illegal, that of today’s President Lula (PT).