Prosecutor’s Office will analyze TV Alesp’s millionaire bid – 05/04/2023 – Power

The Public and Social Heritage Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Public Ministry of São Paulo will assess whether there is evidence of bid fraud in the trading session for the management of the TV of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo.

The case will be distributed via lottery to a prosecutor to determine whether there is enough evidence to open an investigation into possible violations of the Anti-Corruption Law. If so, a civil investigation into the matter would be launched.

The legislation deals with situations in which there is eventual illegality without the participation of a public agent, as can happen, for example, in situations of combination of bids in a trading session.

The law allows the Union, states and municipalities to investigate complaints by companies involved in public procurement fraud and severely criminalize companies that commit illegal acts against the public administration.

according to Sheet revealed, the foundation responsible for TV Alesp has just guaranteed permanence in the Assembly of São Paulo in a bidding process that had the participation of nearby companies.

Fundac (Foundation for the Development of Arts and Communication) won the auction in February for a contract worth around R$ 31 million for 30 months.

Among the participants, the Sheet found that there are companies that have or had links with Fundac or its employees.

One is IPCOM (Instituto Paulista de Comunicação e Cidadania), an entity whose president, on the Federal Revenue website, is Roberto Reinhardt Júnior, financial director of Fundac itself. The institute claims that the information on the website is wrong and will be corrected.

According to the entity, Reinhardt Júnior was financial director until he resigned in November 2022 – since, on the IPCOM website, he maintained until Monday (3) and was changed after contacting the report. The institute says that the website was out of date and presented a waiver dated last year, but stated that there is no need to register with a notary for this type of letter.

In addition to the institute, the company Marcelo Ott Braga Productions of Audio and Video also entered the event, but did not bid. The owner is Marcelo Ottoni Braga, Fundac’s operations supervisor, and the company’s headquarters is actually a family home in the eastern part of São Paulo.

Another company that acted in the trading session was Rentalcine, which was already subcontracted by Fundac in the Assembly and operates with the rental of cinematographic equipment. This year, Giovane Favieri, owner of Rentalcine, became a partner at GDMais, hired by Alesp to supply equipment used by Fundac on TV.

Who made the best bid was the company Take 1 Imagens, but, as it did not officially present the commercial proposal, Fundac took it.

The closed contract was only R$ 1.6 million cheaper than the maximum foreseen in the notice, that is, 4.9% discount.

OTHER SIDE: FOUNDATION SAYS IT FOLLOWS ETHICS AND LEGALITY

Alesp, now presided over by André do Prado (PL), said that the contract was signed in the previous management and that it is up to the House “to supervise compliance with the contract and the execution of services”. The report went back to the Assembly this Wednesday (5) and the House informed that it would maintain the same note.

The advisory of former president Carlão Pignatari (PSDB) stated that the current contract was signed before suspicions of internal irregularities concerning Fundac were presented to the police and that the tender fulfilled, “strictly, all the requirements foreseen in Law nº 8.666, with total transparency, as well as the performance of the effective technical servants of the House, without any questioning”.

The advisory also stated that the company presented the smallest proposal and that the inspection of the contract is up to the Department of Communication.

Fundac stated that it “acts regularly and follows ethical and legal standards”. “All tenders are public and are listed on the bodies’ transparency portal, so the foundation is unaware of any irregularity. The bidding procedure is public and any interested party can manifest and supervise, which is not the role of the foundation”, he says.

Marcelo Braga stated that he entered the bidding just to accompany it. Roberto Reinhardt confirmed the information about the resignation passed by IPCOM.

IPCOM also stated that there is no irregularity. “First, because the legal entity cannot be confused with the individuals that participate in it. Second, because IPCOM did not cover any of Fundac’s bids, therefore, there was no competition between these institutions.”

Giovane Favieri, from Rentalcine, stated that the company has “experience and qualifications to manage any public or private TV station” and that the system does not make it possible to know who is competing in the auctions.