TCU wants to cancel BRL 7.2 billion of suspicious funds under Bolsonaro – 07/13/2023 – Power

The TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) wants the release of educational works authorized without technical criteria, and with suspicions of corruption, during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government to be annulled. The annulments refer to authorizations in the total amount of R$7.2 billion.

The process at TCU investigates measures taken by the then Minister of Education Milton Ribeiro, who left office in 2022, worn out by the role of pastors who did not hold a formal position in the government.

To serve political allies and lobbyists, the FNDE (National Education Development Fund) released thousands of new works by splitting commitments (which reserve money for works) into small amounts, most of the time R$ 30,000.

The justices of the court started this Wednesday (12) the final trial of the matter, but there was a request for review and there is a period of 60 days to resume.

According to final documents obtained by the Sheet, the court sees irregularities in the body’s performance between 2020 and 2022 by ignoring the rules in choosing the municipalities benefiting from the funds. The release of new works benefited richer cities, to the detriment of those that most need it, in addition to ignoring the reserve of resources for construction already in progress.

The records must be forwarded to the Federal Public Ministry to investigate “indications of an act of administrative impropriety” and also to the Federal Police.

The FNDE is a body linked to the MEC (Ministry of Education). Both the nominations of pastors and politicians made use of fractional commitments without technical criteria.

The TCU identified cases in which commitments were released after meetings with Milton Ribeiro intermediated by pastors Gilmar Santos and Arilton Moura —the pivots of the scandal. The proximity of the pastors and Milton Ribeiro was revealed by the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.

The former minister was dismissed in March 2022, a week after the Sheet reveal audio in which Ribeiro spoke of prioritizing requests from pastors at Bolsonaro’s behest.

The FNDE signed, between 2020 and May of last year, 3,356 terms of commitment between the body and city halls related to new works (construction of day care centers, schools, courts and renovations). When adding the values ​​of operations approved from smaller commitments, it comes to R$ 8.8 billion. The value is 14 times higher than what was in the budget for this purpose.

Under Bolsonaro, the body began to release commitments for new works without complying with bureaucratic and legal requirements, such as the very existence of land for the work to be carried out. This was done through so-called conditional approvals, such as the Sheet also showed in 2022.

“The method adopted by the FNDE consisted of replacing the technical and prior analysis of the project with the so-called ‘conditional technical approval’ to then commit a tiny portion of the amount necessary for the execution of the work and, subsequently, enter into the entitled ‘term of commitment with a suspensive clause'”, says the TCU.

This conditional approval format covers 79% of the releases in the period (2,657 terms), which adds up to R$ 7.2 billion, considering the total value of the works —not just what was reserved. These are the acts that must be annulled, according to the TCU.

Most commitments are from the FNDE’s direct budget, but there are also cases of parliamentary amendments, including those of the rapporteur. The court wants annulments to take place regardless of the source of appeals.

The FNDE was chaired by Marcelo Lopes da Ponte between June 2020 and last December. He was an advisor to Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), Minister of the Civil House of the Bolsonaro government and leader of the centrão.

The TCU concluded that Lopes da Ponte should be heard in a separate process so that he can explain the criteria for choosing the beneficiary municipalities, the reason for the resources going to new works —and not to those in progress— and the practice of fractional commitments that , when you add it all up, it reaches a value well above what is budgeted. The court cites disrespect for the Fiscal Responsibility Law.

Two municipalities in Maranhão that appeared in the reports on the performance of the pastors are cited in the TCU process. With regard to the city of Centro Novo (MA), the former president of the FNDE personally moved the body’s system to approve the term of commitment on the same day that there was a meeting at the MEC with the presence of Milton Ribeiro and the mayor.

In the case of Bom Lugar (MA), the process to authorize the commitment was moved the day after the meeting of the city manager with Milton Ribeiro and the pastors, at the MEC itself, in February 2022. The commitment was carried out 16 days later.

“The existence of a favorable environment in the FNDE was verified for the occurrence of directing resources to federated entities without observing the principle of impersonality and without meeting pre-established technical criteria”, says the document.

Lopes da Ponte was approached by the report and did not respond. The city halls of Centro Novo and Bom Lugar also did not comment.

A criminal investigation was also opened into the case against Ribeiro, the pastors, who were arrested in June 2022. Since last year, however, the investigation has been stopped.

The pastors asked for money in exchange for permits for works by the MEC, according to the reports, which even included a request for a gold bar for a manager.

Since last year, Milton Ribeiro has said that he has not committed any wrongdoing and that he awaits “recognition of the lack of just cause for the continuation of the investigation”.

The Lula government (PT) awaits TCU deliberations.

A Sheet last September revealed the conclusion of the technical area of ​​the CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) that the Bolsonaro government systematically ignored technical criteria in the transfer of funds for education, enhancing “disguised agreements”.

The fund ignored a ranking of municipalities, which should guide the prioritization of commitments, and released works based on emails from leaders.