MPF: Eduardo Campos received bribes via account in Switzerland – 04/07/2023 – Power
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A criminal complaint filed in Federal Court in Pernambuco states that former governor Eduardo Campos (PSB), who died in 2014, was the beneficiary of payments made to an account in the name of an uncle opened in Switzerland.
According to the indictment, the contractor Odebrecht made transfers that totaled R$ 771.5 thousand (the equivalent of R$ 4 million currently) in return for favoring occurred in the government of the pessebist in the state (from 2007 to 2014).
The complaint was offered after international cooperation with the Swiss authorities, which sent data from the suspicious account to Brazil.
The accusation, which is an offshoot of Operation Lava Jato, was presented in Pernambuco last June and is under judicial secrecy. Federal judge Amanda Diniz Araújo accepted the complaint in September 2022.
One of those accused of the crime of money laundering is Sandra Leote Arraes, widow of an uncle of the former governor, Carlos Augusto Arraes —who died in 2010. Another defendant —this one also suspected of corruption— is Aldo Guedes, former director of Copergás, Pernambuco’s main state-owned company, and former partner of the former governor. Two other defendants are collaborators of Justice.
On the 17th, Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, of the Federal Supreme Court, determined the suspension of the criminal action and the seizure of assets in relation to Sandra Leote. The magistrate responded to a defense request that stated that other processes based on data from the Odebrecht leniency agreement were paralyzed. One of the precedents was a decision favorable to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
In the complaint filed in Pernambuco, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office states that, in 2007, Carlos Augusto opened, in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean, an offshore company (a company registered abroad in which it is not necessary to declare the origin and destination of the money).
That company, named Sama Group Corporation, had an account at the Swiss bank Pictet supplied by other offshore companies that, according to the accusation, were linked to the construction company Odebrecht.
Included in the complaint, for example, receipts for transfers to the Sama Group, between 2008 and 2009.
One of the origins of the deposits is a company called Klienfeld, which had already appeared in other Lava Jato episodes, such as investigations related to the connection between Odebrecht and marketer João Santana.
Prosecutors say that the first deposit made into the Pictet bank account was precisely from one of the offshore companies attributed to Odebrecht, which indicates that it “was created to receive payments of illicit origin related to the Government of Pernambuco”.
In addition to the material sent by the Swiss, the prosecution also attached an exchange of messages between members of the contractor about payments outside the country and which are said to be linked to former governor Eduardo Campos.
An Odebrecht whistleblower, João Pacífico, is quoted in the complaint as saying that the construction company was informed at the time that whenever it carried out public works in the state, it would have to pay a percentage of the amount to the Campos group. In return, she would receive a “market reserve”.
The works involved, says the prosecution, are the earth moving of the Abreu e Lima refinery and projects in the port of Suape, such as a pier.
The contractor, now renamed Novonor, signed a collaboration agreement in 2016 in which its executives reported illegalities involving politicians.
“Sama Group Corp. was a typical fraudulent legal person (shell company), with no economic activity or employees”, says the Attorney General’s Office.
The funds that were deposited in that account, narrates the complaint, were later transferred to banks in other countries, such as China and Singapore.
The prosecutors also say: “The state of Pernambuco, during the years 2007 to 2014, was the headquarters of a criminal organization led by the late governor”.
The Public Ministry also states that, with the death of Carlos Augusto, Sandra assumed control and administration of the Sama Group and the account in Switzerland, whose existence was not informed to the Brazilian authorities, as required by law.
The court responded to requests from the investigators to break the tax and bank secrecy of the accused during the investigation.
Sama Group’s bank account at Pictet bank was closed in 2016. A letter directed that all of its assets be transferred to other escrow funds in New York.
Also targeted in the criminal prosecution are transfers amounting to another 3.7 million euros (R$ 19 million reais) made to the offshore company, originating from a firm based in Uruguay named Cerro Leonado.
The indictment, however, does not link these other, more recent payments to Eduardo Campos. He claims that the Uruguayan firm belongs to lobbyist José Amaro Pinto Ramos, who had ties to Odebrecht. Prosecutors relate these bank operations to the contractor’s contract signed under the national submarine development program.
The criminal complaint also addresses alleged payment of bribes by the contractor Galvão Engenharia, but which would have been made within Brazil.
Campos died in an air crash in Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, during the 2014 election campaign, when he was running for the Presidency of the Republic.
His political strength continues to this day, with his sons João Campos, elected mayor of Recife in 2020, and Pedro Campos, elected federal deputy in 2022 – both for the PSB. His political godson Paulo Câmara, who recently left the PSB, governed the state from 2015 to 2022.
OTHER SIDE
The report sought João Campos, son of Eduardo Campos, to comment on the matter, but his advisor stated that the report should seek out the PSB in Pernambuco to talk about it.
The party declined to comment on the matter.
In previous situations, the PSB defended the legality of Eduardo Campos’ conduct in his political trajectory. In 2016, for example, the party’s national leadership said they had full confidence in his actions, as he was also president of the party. The acronym manifested itself on the occasion after an operation by the Federal Police that linked the plane that crashed with the former governor to those accused of money laundering.
The party also said at the time that it is sure that, in the end, there would be no doubt that Campos’ campaign did not commit illegal acts and said it supported investigations.
The report sought Sandra Leote Arraes and Aldo Guedes’ lawyers, but they declined to comment.
In court, Sandra Arraes’ defense said that the deposits attributed to Odebrecht in Switzerland took place at the time when her husband was the sole holder of the Pictet bank. He argues that it only took control in 2010, with the death of Carlos Augusto Arraes.
She also stated that, in testimony during the inquiry, she was “absolutely cooperative, reporting nothing to know about that plot of the criminal investigation”.
He said that, regarding the movement of the account, he was only aware of the deposits made from 2011 to 2014. These transfers, the lawyers in the petition said, were related to a former commercial advisory work by Carlos Augusto Arraes in the supply of military technology to the Brazilian Navy .
According to the lawyers, the process in the first instance already had suspended deadlines for the presentation of defenses because elements cited in the indictment were not in the file.
The defense of José Amaro Pinto Ramos said he was unaware of the existence of the complaint pending in Pernambuco.
He also added that Cerro Leonado is a company “duly constituted according to Uruguayan laws, which are strictly observed in its activities” and that José Amaro never had any kind of relationship with former governor Eduardo Campos.
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