PGR appeals Toffoli’s decision that suspended Odebrecht’s fine

The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) filed an appeal this Wednesday (14) against the decision of Federal Supreme Court (STF) Minister Dias Toffoli who suspended the payment of the fine under Odebrecht’s leniency agreement. On the 31st, Toffoli responded to a request made by the group’s new controlling company, Novonor, and suspended payment of the R$3.8 billion fine.

The company claimed that it was coerced into signing the agreement with the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), in 2016, within the scope of Operation Lava Jato. In the appeal, the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, pointed out that there are no elements that prove alleged coercion. “There is not enough element in the file to portray, with minimal plausibility, a picture of the conclusion of a leniency agreement under violence that nullifies the party’s free will,” said Gonet.

The PGR requested that Toffoli reconsider the decision that suspended payment of the fine. If this does not happen, Gonet asked that the appeal be analyzed by the Court’s plenary. Furthermore, he argued that any review of the leniency agreement should be carried out by the original court, that is, in the Federal Court of Paraná and not in the Supreme Court.

In the decision, Toffoli argued that the information obtained so far by Operation Spoofing indicates that there was a “collusion between the prosecuting court and the prosecuting body” to conduct the investigation that “suited such bodies, and not the defense itself”.

The minister authorized the contractor to have access to messages attributed to former judge and current senator Sergio Moro (União-PR), former prosecutor and former deputy Deltan Dallagnol and other members of the Lava Jato task force. The attorney general highlighted that the messages show “objectionable behavior by public agents”, but “do not reveal the practice of any act that constitutes the concept of irresistible moral coercion”.

“It is not appropriate now, years after the agreement was signed, in full effect of the benefits agreed to the company and its executives, for the economic Group to claim – with the aggravating factor of not even presenting immediate and complete proof in favor of the argument – ​​that it miscalculated the costs of the adjustment, requesting the indefinite suspension of future payments”, said Gonet.