Lira’s son’s company negotiates advertising with Secom, ministries, BB and Caixa – 06/16/2023 – Politics

The company Omnia 360, which belongs to the son of the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), intermediated advertising business in the main agencies of the federal government and in public banks.

Media outlets represented by Omnia received payments to distribute campaigns from Secom (Secretary of Social Communication), the ministries of Health and Education, Banco do Brasil and Caixa.

Omnia is owned by Arthur Lira Filho, 23, and Maria Cavalcante, 25, daughter of Luciano Cavalcante, a former adviser to Lira who was the target of an operation by the Federal Police regarding deviations in the purchase of robotics kits. In addition to them, the publicist Ana Magalhães is also a partner of the company.

Data obtained based on the LAI (Access to Information Law) show that media companies represented by Omnia received around R$ 6.5 million from Saúde, as revealed by Sheet.

According to the ministry, the payments were made to the companies OPL Digital and RZK Digital, both Lira Filho clients.

The same companies received around R$ 2 million from Secom, according to information extracted from the secretariat’s expenses panel. OPL won BRL 1.42 million, while RZK received BRL 594 thousand.

Of the amount paid by Secom to companies, BRL 1.59 million was disbursed between 2021 and 2022, under the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration. Another BRL 428 thousand were sent in 2023, in the first year of the Lula (PT) government.

OPL also received BRL 114,000 in media campaigns from the Ministry of Education, the ministry said after a request based on the LAI.

Caixa and Banco do Brasil, on the other hand, do not detail the amounts paid to vehicles hired by advertising agencies to produce and distribute media campaigns, but they publish a list of companies that participate in the execution of these pieces.

OPL and RZK are on the list of vehicles paid for in campaigns by the two banks in 2022.

The company owned by the mayor’s son receives a portion of the payment made by agencies contracted by the government and public banks to media outlets.

The value is discussed between Omnia and the represented company. OPL stated that Omnia receives 15% of the net amounts traded with government agencies, “a standard percentage for all our representatives throughout Brazil”.

OPL distributes advertising campaigns on cell phones, among other services. The RZK already has LED panels.

Omnia has also represented its clients’ interests in various public bodies.

The company was at least twice in 2021 at Secom, according to records from the secretariat’s website. Maria Cavalcante and Ana Magalhães, partners at Omnia, are mentioned in another 2022 portfolio agenda.

Caixa stated that it held 16 meetings with representatives of Omnia, “accompanied by those responsible for disclosure vehicles (commercial executives)” in 2021 and 2022. There are no records of access in 2023, according to the public bank.

Banco do Brasil said that it routinely receives communication vehicles and that “the same practice occurred with Omnia”. The institution did not confirm how many appointments were made with Lira Filho’s company.

Maria Cavalcante also made four visits to the Ministry of Social Development, all in 2021. She was registered in the folder’s system as a representative of “upl digital” on three accesses, and of “Omnis360” on another occasion, according to data provided after a request from LAI .

Social Development did not say whether Omnia customers received advertising dollars.

Questioned about the negotiations in several public bodies, Omnia said that the commercial representation activity “consists precisely in promoting the represented products to the trade of its sector”.

“It is part of Omnia 360’s activities to hold meetings at advertising agencies and present news and technical details to advertisers. Something commonplace in public and private advertising market activities”, stated Arthur Lira’s son’s company.

OPL said it is present in customer campaigns across a range of sectors. “It is natural that it is also present in public campaigns.”

RZK was contacted and did not respond. In a note sent before the publication of a report on Omnia’s business in Health, the company said that it follows the “common market” practice of working with commercial representatives in places where it does not have an office.

Asked about his son’s business in various public bodies, the mayor repeated a note that had been previously sent about Omnia’s activities in Health.

Lira said: “There is nothing wrong with the functional development of my son’s company, much less my interference in his business activity”.

The president of the Chamber is the main leader of the centrão and has made public statements criticizing Lula’s political articulation. He met with the petista this Friday (16).

“It is Sheet wanting to make an association about an untrue political fact, in this case requesting it from the Ministry of Health, with personal interests, is speculative, unreasonable, irresponsible and criminal. And this is how it will be treated in legal instances, if it is published with this focus”, said the president of the Chamber.

Lira also said that “the lessons made by Folha de S.Paulo they are not journalism”. “By the way, this is anti-journalism.”

One of the closest assistants to the mayor, Luciano Cavalcante, father of Lira’s son’s partner, was exonerated from the position he held in leading the PP in the House after being targeted by the PF.

Cavalcante was the target of a search and seizure carried out on June 1 as part of an investigation into alleged deviations in contracts for robotics kits funded by the FNDE (National Fund for Education Development) in the Bolsonaro government. The purchases of the kits were revealed by Sheet in 2022.

One of the suspects is that Luciano and his wife may be beneficiaries of misappropriated amounts.

Lawyer André Callegari, who defends Cavalcante, stated that Lira’s assistant “is not part of the company’s corporate structure [Omnia]”. “So he never acted on her behalf, either in public or private.”

When contacted, Secom and the Ministries of Education and Social Development did not respond.

BB said that it does not maintain a contract with Omnia’s clients, as the purchase of advertising space is done by the agencies.

Caixa stated, in a note, that the details of commercial advertising negotiations are considered strategic and are confidential.