TCU: Military personnel bought picanha with Covid funds – 04/03/2023 – Power

The TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) detected that the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces irregularly spent resources destined to face the Covid-19 pandemic. The information appears in an audit of the court voted last Wednesday (29).

The conclusion was based on the analysis of BRL 15.6 million in expenses incurred by the Defense and Armed Forces with funds sent by the Ministry of Health as reimbursement for the logistical support provided in actions during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Among the irregularities, the court cited R$ 256,000 spent by the Army on typical snacks to be served in cocktails, ice cream and soft drinks. Covid reimbursement funds were used in these cases.

The auditors pointed out that, due to their low nutritional value and their usual purpose, the food “most likely would not have been used to reinforce the troops employed in Operation Covid-19”.

In addition, there were purchases of 12,000 kilos of prime beef cuts (filet mignon and sirloin steak) for R$ 447,000, made by only two military organizations.

The expense, according to the document, represents 22% of the total spent by all Army units on beef in general, which was R$ 2 million purchased by 45 military organizations.

The audit was requested by the Chamber’s Financial Inspection and Control Commission and carried out by the General Secretariat for External Control and by the TCU’s National Defense and Public Security structure.

The court recalled that an internal Army regulation authorizes the purchase of prime beef cuts. However, he said that the performance of the public administration, in addition to observing the principle of legality, must pay attention to the principles of reasonableness and the public interest.

“In this sense, it is understood that such principles were violated by the use of resources so dear to society, arising from Union indebtedness that further aggravated the economic and social crisis experienced by Brazil, for the acquisition of luxury items, when more affordable alternatives are available. cheap and that equally fulfilled the intended purpose”, says the document.

The auditors also found that around 50% of the Army’s expenses with food expenses benefited organizations that did not have troops and, due to this condition, are not usually employed in field actions.

“If confirmed, it would rule out the argument of greater caloric expenditure due to physical exhaustion in military operations to justify the purchases of questionable foodstuffs”, says the TCU.

The TCU also identified that military organizations applied resources from extraordinary credit to face the pandemic in expenses for the maintenance of real estate that did not meet the requirements of unpredictability and urgency.

In all, BRL 1.8 million was spent with Covid resources for these purposes, excluding military hospitals.

Major renovation works were carried out in several units, such as adapting facilities to build accommodation and instruction rooms, and replacing floors and roofs in military units that were in use.

One unit spent BRL 48,000 on replacing blinds, without proving that this was an essential condition for carrying out work to tackle the pandemic.

The court pointed out that there are specific budgetary actions for these purposes, provided for in the bodies’ ordinary budget.

On the part of the Navy, the TCU identified that credits reimbursed by Health were used for the operation of structures that would not be aimed at the provision of health services.

Among them, expenses with the supply of spare parts for ships and vessels, as well as maintenance of various types of movable property.

The TCU considered that it was unquestionable that the Armed Forces provided essential and essential support during the pandemic, without which the number of victims could be even more expressive.

However, it noted the “absence of full physical/financial proof of the execution of the services object of the decentralization of resources and absence of discrimination of the contracted goods and services object of the requests for financial transfer, which made it impossible to analyze their compatibility with the logistical support carried out.”

“It was found that such a risk was proven, not being a mere theoretical abstraction, because the Ministry of Defense detected in cost spreadsheets presented by the Air Force and the Navy the presence of expenses not correlated with the logistical support provided by them in the context of supporting the health crisis in the North Region and the National Immunization Program, respectively,” he said.

Because of this, the auditors said it was necessary to open a new process to deepen the investigations.

A Sheet sought out the Defense and Armed Forces press offices to talk about the matter. Only the Army’s media center responded.

The agency said that its activities are guided by respect for legality, fairness and transparency in the management of public assets and resources, as well as by close collaboration with the External Control of its management acts.

“In view of this, the Force has made every effort to fully meet the demands and guidelines received from the TCU and has been working, through its Internal Control System, to promote transparency and the correct application of public resources”, he said.