PF postponed operation against Braga Netto to avoid 7/9 – 08/10/2023 – Power

The Federal Police postponed the investigation into fraud in the intervention in Rio de Janeiro in 2018, an investigation targeting General Walter Braga Netto and retired Army officers, so as not to coincide with Independence Day festivities.

The PF carried out the 16 search and seizure warrants in the case last September 12 to advance the investigation into deviations in the contract for the purchase of vests signed by the Federal Intervention Office, commanded by the former minister of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The initial forecast was that these measures would take place in the same week as the military commemorations of September 7th.

Upon noting the coincidence in dates, however, investigators assessed that the ideal would be to postpone the operation, so as not to overlap with the date, dear to the Armed Forces, and avoid accusations of persecution of those in uniform.

Braga Netto had its telematic secrecy broken in the investigation, and the PF found payments from a company under investigation to a reserve colonel subordinated to him for more than two years.

As shown by Sheet At the beginning of the month, there was uneasiness between members of the Armed Forces leadership and the PF. High-ranking generals complained that Army celebration events this year were marked by Federal Police operations against military personnel.

They highlighted, as an example, that Lula’s meeting with the Force’s High Command took place on the day of the operation that arrested Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid; and his father, General Lourena Cid, being the target of searches when the president announced the investment of R$53 billion from the new PAC to the Armed Forces.

For these soldiers, the police intentionally chose days with the aim of undermining positive news about those in uniform — something that members of the PF always rejected.

Even so, this complaint reached the ears of minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), and the director of the PF, Andrei Rodrigues, last month.

The Minister of Defense, José Múcio Monteiro, in an effort to improve the relationship between the corporation and the Armed Forces, had conversations with both. In the meetings, according to reports, he expressed the troops’ criticisms.

Since then, military personnel report, the climate has changed and the relationship has improved. After Moraes and Andrei went to Soldier’s Day, at the beginning of this month it was the turn of the Forces leadership to attend an event with the presence of the PF.

Minister Múcio and the Army commander, General Tomás Paiva, went to the graduation ceremony for Federal Police employees on September 5th, which was also attended by Lula.

On the occasion, the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, made a gesture of rapprochement with the military by stating that the Federal Police and the Armed Forces are “sister institutions at the service of Brazil”.

Dino’s statement was given amid a crisis of distrust between the military and the PF, which dates back to the actions of the transitional office and has expanded with the advancement of investigations against military personnel.

The Federal Police gave the name Perfidia to the operation that investigates fraud in purchases of ballistic vests from the federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro.

The facts are from 2018, and the operation was only carried out in September of this year.

16 search and seizure warrants were executed at addresses linked to the suspects in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and the Federal District.

Military personnel interviewed by Sheet They say that the objective of the operation would be to obtain information about Braga Netto to be used in investigations into the Bolsonaro government. The soldier was his vice-president on the defeated ticket for re-election in 2022.

The PF investigation found evidence of fraud in the purchase of 9,360 overpriced ballistic vests at the end of 2018.

The contracted company was CTU Security LLC, based in Miami, whose owner was Venezuelan Antonio Intriago — arrested in the United States on suspicion of participation in the murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

The investigation that resulted in the searches began with the international cooperation of the United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

She had seized cell phones from CTU Security employees, and the files showed evidence of fraud in the contracting of the vests.

In a note, the former intervener stated that “the contracts of the Federal Intervention Office (GIF) followed absolutely all the legal procedures provided for in Brazilian law.”

“It is important to highlight that the suspension of the contract was carried out by GIF itself, after evaluating alleged irregularities in the documents provided by the company”, said Braga Netto.

“The vests were not purchased or delivered. There was, therefore, no transfer of resources to the company or irregularity on the part of the public administration. The commitment was canceled, and the total value plus the exchange rate variation were returned to the National Treasury coffers. “