Son of a Lava Jato convict suggests Lula can buy meat

The son of cattle rancher José Carlos Bumlai, a friend of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and convicted in Lava Jato for fraudulent management and passive corruption to pay off PT debts, proposed to the PT government a social program that aims to distribute vouchers for purchasing of beef by Bolsa Família beneficiaries. The so-called “Carne no Prato” was proposed by Guilherme Bumlai, who presides over the Association of Breeders of Mato Grosso do Sul (Acrissul), amid the fall in the price of beef arroba to the lowest level in four years.

The information that the program is being studied by the government was verified by Estadão and confirmed to People’s Gazette this Wednesday (6) by Acrissul. “Carne no Prato” is analyzed by the Civil House and the Ministry of Agrarian Development, which stated in a note that “the proposal has been filed, is being analyzed by the Ministry’s technical area and will be forwarded for the first evaluation by the other competent bodies”.

According to Acrissul, the “Carne no Prato” program was brought to the government in September last year and aims to “distribute to families in extreme poverty, by the federal government, an exclusive card for purchasing meat in chains agreed.”

“The value would be R$35 per family to purchase two kilos of beef per month, benefiting around 19.5 million people”, says the text to which the People’s Gazette had access.

The entity states that the program, if implemented, will benefit “all links in the cattle production chain”, leading to improved production, job creation in the industry, tax collection and benefit to the needy population – the consumption of beef, says Acrissul, it reached 24.2 kilos per inhabitant in 2023, the lowest level in 20 years.

The “Carne no Prato” program should generate a demand of 475 thousand tons of beef per year, according to the entity, and would require the slaughter of 2.3 million animals in the period – which should increase producers’ earnings amid the fluctuation of the price of an arroba of beef since January.

Acrissul states that the price in February was R$216.21, the lowest since 2020, when cattle were sold at R$168.20. “In Acrissul’s calculations, demand will create a new perspective in the Brazilian cattle market, attracting new investments, jobs, increasing consumption and improving the price of fat cattle for producers”, adds the entity in the project summary.

On the other hand, the value proposed for the meat voucher may be insufficient to fulfill the promise of two kilos per month. Procon in São Paulo found that, in January, a kilo of prime meat was R$38.26, while second-class meat was R$28.61.

The voucher for the “Carne no Prato” program, if implemented, should initially only be distributed to families registered in the federal government’s Single Registry of Social Programs (CadÚnico), for purchase in affiliated supermarkets and butchers.

Father of cattle rancher was sentenced by Moro in Lava Jato

The president of the association that proposed the program to the government is the son of José Carlos Bumlai, sentenced in 2016 by the then federal judge and current senator Sergio Moro (União-PR) to 9 years and 10 months in prison for crimes such as fraudulent management and passive corruption . He, however, was granted freedom by the STF the following year with votes from Gilmar Mendes, Dias Toffoli and Celso de Mello.

Bumlai’s conviction is related to obtaining and fraudulently paying off a R$12 million loan from Banco Schahin, in 2004, and participating in undue advantages in the contract between Petrobras and the Schahin Group for the operation of the Drilling Vessel Vitória 10,000.

In the sentence, Moro emphasized the fraudulent nature of the R$12 million loan, pointing to the PT as the beneficiary of the amounts. “There is no divergence in the confessions regarding this and the documentary and testimonial evidence already reveals the fact”, declared the judge.

Furthermore, Moro highlighted that the PT used Bumlai as an intermediary to make payments to third parties of its interest.

“This is stated not only by defendants who signed a plea bargain agreement, such as Salim Taufic Schahin, but also by defendants who do not have any agreement, such as José Carlos Costa Marques Bumlai himself,” stated the former magistrate.