TCU sees deviation in work indicated by Lula’s minister – 02/10/2023 – Power

An audit by the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) reveals deviations in works that relied on public funds directed by the current Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filho (União Brasil-MA), to his electoral stronghold governed by his sister.

The beneficiary of the overpricing, according to the auditors, was the contractor Engefort, which is identified by the TCU inspection as leader of a cartel of asphalting companies that would have defrauded bids that add up to more than R$ 1 billion in the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The deviations occurred in two contracts of the state-owned company Codevasf (Companhia de Desenvolvimento dos Vales do São Francisco and Parnaíba) for asphalting in the municipality of Vitorino Freire (MA), whose mayor is Luanna (União Brasil), sister of the government minister Lula ( PT).

The overbilling reached BRL 700,000 because Engefort had charged for the construction of gutters that were never actually built, according to the TCU audit. The two contracts add up to R$ 8 million.

Resources for the works in Vitorino Freire were obtained by “budget highlight” indicated by Juscelino Filho at the end of 2019, when he was a federal deputy. In this type of operation, the Ministry of Regional Development transfers resources to other bodies, such as Codevasf, for the execution of services.

The supervisor of these contracts by Codevasf was Julimar Alves da Silva Filho, who was the target of an operation by the Federal Police last October on suspicion of having received bribes of R$ 250,000 to favor another contractor, Construservice, in works by the state-owned company.

Named Odoacro, the PF operation led to the removal of Silva Filho from his public position at Codevasf.

TCU points out that the gutter model initially chosen in the bids is wider and deeper than the one used on urban roads — in fact, it is only used on highways.

The court technicians only had the job of evaluating photos of the works and easily identified the lack of construction of the gutters. If they were erected, the gutters would occupy half the width of urban roads.

In response to the TCU in December, Codevasf admitted overbilling and stated that it would ask for the money paid to companies for the service not provided to be returned. According to the state company, the irregularity occurred “due to a mistake in the reference code of the gutter service, this fact was not intentional”.

According to the TCU audit, in addition to the “ghost gutters”, there was another irregularity in the two contracts, which were endorsed by Silva Filho.

The technical area of ​​the court claims that additives raised, without any technical justification, the cost of transporting materials from about 10% to 30% of the amounts executed in the two contracts.

When responding to TCU about the problem, Codevasf argued that the increase in this item occurred after a request from Engefort that was accepted by Silva Filho.

According to Codevasf, the contractor claimed that the contractual amendments were necessary because some streets foreseen in the basic project of the local city hall had already been paved by other bodies or by the city hall itself, and then there was “the alteration of the indicated roads” and “modification of the initial needs listed in the basic project”.

The state-owned company also stated that the amendment removed values ​​for works on sidewalks and added transport costs, but that there was no change in the final price of the contract.

Engefort was contracted through a simplified bidding modality that Codevasf started to use to dispose of funds indicated by parliamentarians, as revealed by the Sheet.

In some disputes of this type, the state-owned company did not indicate the exact location where the work would be carried out, which opened up room for “occurrence and risk of overbilling” in material transport values, according to the TCU analysis.

Minister Juscelino Filho was chosen by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) for Communications as a way to accommodate União Brasil in the first echelon of government.

In the Bolsonaro government, the then deputy benefited from negotiations between Congress and the Executive for the release of funds. He directed at least BRL 77 million from 2019 to 2021, with at least BRL 42 million allocated to Engefort and Construservice contracts.

Minister says they have no relationship with companies suspected of deviations

The minister’s lawyers, Ticiano Figueiredo and Pedro Ivo Velloso, stated in a note that the amendments are legal, benefit several needy communities in the interior of Maranhão and that the responsibility for contracting the project lies with the executor of the work, not with Juscelino.

“The greatest proof that there is no relationship between the hiring of such companies and the deputy is that these companies carried out several works, including in other states, with different budget sources, whether from municipalities, states and amendments of other parliamentarians” said the lawyers.

Engefort also denied having maintained relations with Juscelino Filho that could have resulted in irregularities.

“As for the current Minister of Communications Juscelino Filho, we inform you that there is no personal relationship between him or his relatives, with Engefort Construtora, and that there have never been donations for his electoral campaigns. We emphasize that the situations in which Engefort maintained contact with the current minister performed in a strictly professional manner, on the occasion of events,” said the contractor.

“Engefort Construtora vehemently repudiates the notes that it participated in a cartel, since Engefort never combined prices with competing companies and never acted to rig any bid”, he added.

Codevasf stated in relation to the “phantom gutters” that the companies accused of embezzlement “have already expressed their support for reimbursement” and “the process of refunding amounts is in the administrative process”.

Lawyer Marcio Almeida, defender of Julimar Alves da Silva Filho, said that the amendments to the contracts with Engefort were made during the execution so that an adaptation to what was being carried out could occur.

Payments took place in accordance with what was executed, with the executive projects and amendments, which were made within the limits of the law, he said.

The defense of Construservice and Eduardo Costa reported that they cannot comment on confidential investigations, but denied their involvement in criminal practices at Codevasf.