Tacla Duran case: CNJ questions judge’s relationship with Moro – 04/17/2023 – Power

The National Inspector of Justice, Luis Felipe Salomão, determined the initiation of a request for measures to investigate the conduct of the federal judge Marcelo Malucelli, of the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF4).

He wants to understand if the recent decision of the federal judge of second instance involving the lawyer Rodrigo Tacla Duran collides with the understanding of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) that suspended the criminal actions against the defendant of Operation Lava Jato.

When opening the procedure, Salomão also questions Malucelli’s relationship with Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) and mentions the magistrate’s possible suspicion to act in cases involving Tacla Duran.

Defendant for crimes of money laundering in the scope of Lava Jato, Tacla Duran has been maintaining that people close to Moro tried to extort him to obtain a more advantageous deal.

The son of the federal judge, lawyer João Eduardo Barreto Malucelli, is a partner of the senator and federal deputy Rosangela Wolff Moro (União Brasil-SP) at the Wolff Moro Sociedade de Advocacia office. In addition, João Eduardo would be the boyfriend of the daughter of the couple of parliamentarians.

Lawyer João Eduardo also has a commissioned position in the Legislative Assembly of Paraná, in the office of state deputy Luiz Fernando Guerra Filho (União Brasil) – who is the brother of businessman Ricardo Augusto Guerra (União Brasil), Moro’s second alternate in the Senate.

Salomão opened the procedure on Friday (14th) and gave Malucelli five days to provide clarifications.

A decision by Malucelli signed last week prevented Tacla Duran from returning to Brazil to personally participate in a judicial hearing in Curitiba, as federal judge Eduardo —Appio had determined since February at the head of the remaining Lava Jato cases in the 13th Federal Court, in Curitiba.

A Sheet got in touch this Monday (17) with the advice of the TRF4, where Malucelli works, but the magistrate preferred not to manifest.

Moro’s advisory sent a note, in which he informs that the senator and the deputy have been away from the activities of the law firm “since the beginning of the parliamentary term, remaining in the membership only as associates”.

“We also clarify that parliamentarians are not investigated or prosecuted in the Federal Court of Paraná or in the Federal Court of the 4th Region”, adds the note.

The case of alleged extortion involving Moro is in the hands of the PGR (Attorney General of the Republic). The former judge denies it, claiming that the lawyer does not show proof of what he says.

A Sheet was unable to contact Tacla Duran, who has lived in Spain since 2016.

JUDGES DIFFERENT ON SCOPE OF DECISION ON TACLA DURAN

On Tuesday (11), at the request of the MPF (Federal Public Ministry), Malucelli overturned a decision by Judge Appio, dated April 4, which allowed Tacla Duran to return to Brazil with a safe-conduct to have face-to-face access to evidence that is under the guard of the 13th Federal Court and also to participate in a hearing to discuss the conditions of his provisional freedom – at that moment, Judge Appio had already scheduled the hearing with Tacla Duran for Thursday (13).

The safe-conduct, which would allow the free transit of Tacla Duran in Brazilian territory, would be necessary because part of the Lava Jato investigation against the lawyer is being processed in Spain and there are restrictive measures applied to the lawyer by Spanish authorities.

In his decision, Malucelli justified that, in March, the STF suspended the two criminal actions in which Tacla Duran appears as a defendant in the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, and also all procedures related to the two processes.

The suspension occurred at the request of the defendant, who argued that the complaints filed in 2017 by the MPF, which led to the two criminal actions, used evidence from Odebrecht’s leniency agreements, already considered invalid by the Supreme Court.

Thus, for Malucelli, since the suspension of proceedings by the STF, Judge Appio could not have signed new orders. Now, it is the CNJ inspector who questions whether Malucelli could have acted in the case, precisely because of the stoppage imposed by the STF.

On Wednesday (12), Judge Appio sent a letter to Malucelli suggesting that the decision of the second instance magistrate meant, in practice, the reinstatement of the preventive arrest warrant against the defendant. Tacla Duran was considered a fugitive by the Brazilian authorities until March 16, when Judge Appio revoked the preventive arrest warrant.

In the official letter, Appio asked Malucelli if the new preventive arrest warrant should be issued by the 13th Court or by the 8th Criminal Panel of the TRF4.

Malucelli’s response was sent directly to the President of the STF, Minister Rosa Weber. The second instance judge told the STF that he had not decreed any new arrests, suggesting an error in Appio’s interpretation.

A Sheet sought advice from the two magistrates on Friday (14), but there was no response.

In his decision of April 4, Judge Appio revoked an order of May 2022, signed by the then Lava Jato judge Luiz Antonio Bonat, in which Tacla Duran was unable to obtain a safe-conduct to have access, personally, to evidence that are in the 13th Federal Court.

Among the arguments put forward by Bonat at the time to deny the lawyer’s request is that the grounds for the preventive arrest warrant against the defendant were still in force.

That is, in Appio’s understanding, by overturning the decision of April 4th that revoked the 2022 order, Malucelli would be, in practice, reestablishing the understanding that the fundamentals of preventive detention are still in force.

But, to the STF, Malucelli explains that his decision is limited to questions about Tacla Duran’s personal access to the evidence and about face-to-face hearings, “there being no possibility of expanding it to another question – such as a prison decree”.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE CASE

• 16 of March – revocation of arrest – Judge Eduardo Appio revokes the preventive arrest warrant against Tacla Duran, who has lived in Spain since 2016. Appio also establishes some conditions for provisional release, such as reporting activities to the federal court every two months.
• 27th of March – hearing by videoconference – By videoconference, Tacla Duran participates in a hearing with Judge Appio and again suggests that he rejected an extortion attempt by people linked to Sergio Moro. The judge sends the report to the STF, as it involves an authority with special jurisdiction, and includes Tacla Duran in the federal program of protected witnesses. At the request of the STF, the case is still being analyzed by the PGR, which may or may not ask for an investigation to be opened.
• 4th of April – access to evidence – Judge Appio revokes the May 2022 decision that prevented Tacla Duran from appearing at the 13th Federal Court in Curitiba, in person, to access evidence. One of the arguments of Judge Luiz Antonio Bonat, who signed last year’s order, is that the grounds for the preventive arrest warrant in effect at the time against Tacla Duran persisted.
• April 4 – Theface-to-face hearing – In addition to authorizing access to the evidence in person, Judge Appio schedules a face-to-face hearing to hear Tacla Duran about the conditions of provisional release. The hearing would have been held sometime between April 10th and 14th, but it ended up not happening.
• 11th of April – TRF4 decision – Claiming that Judge Appio could not have taken decisions within processes suspended by the STF, the MPF appeals to TRF4 and second instance judge Marcelo Malucelli revokes Judge Appio’s decision of April 4.
• April 12th – Alleged arrest – Judge Appio asks Malucelli for clarification on his decision, suggesting that the reversal of his decision of April 4 also meant in practice the reinstatement of the preventive arrest warrant against Tacla.
• April 14th – response to the STF – To the STF, Malucelli denies that he has reestablished a new prison for Tacla Duran and informs that he only revoked the decision that authorized the lawyer’s personal access to the evidence and scheduled a face-to-face hearing in Curitiba. He emphasizes that his decision has nothing to do with the revocation of the precautionary measure signed on March 16.