Whistleblower questions Moro for interrogating ministers – 10/03/2023 – Power

Interrogations in which people with special jurisdiction are cited by function prerogative, such as deputies, counselors, judges and ministers of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice), are among the irregularities pointed out by businessman and former state deputy Tony Garcia regarding his plea agreement approved in 2004 by then judge Sergio Moro.

Last week, Garcia’s defense asked Minister Dias Toffoli, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), to declare null and void all the acts signed by Moro in the processes involving the businessman, alleging “numerous illegalities” in the context of his denunciation.

Moro denies this and calls Garcia a “convicted criminal” who is trying to create a “false scandal”.

Garcia’s defense sent 235 pages to the STF with transcripts of his interrogations related to his plea agreement, carried out between the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005.

Throughout the reports, obtained by Sheettwo names of STJ ministers at the time are mentioned in contexts that could lead to the opening of an investigation in the competent authorities – in one of the cases, Garcia maintains that he would have handed over money in exchange for an injunction decision in his favor.

The objective of the interrogations, conducted by Moro and with the participation of members of the Federal Public Ministry, was to hear what Garcia knew about 30 supposedly illegal facts that he would be willing to scrutinize to obtain the benefits of the plea bargain.

The plea agreement was approved in a pre-Lava Jato era, when there was no specific legislation on collaborations of this type.

Most of the 30 facts involve names from Paraná politics and scandals already known in the state, especially linked to the group of former governor Jaime Lerner (died in 2021, aged 83), whose term at Palácio Iguaçu ended in 2003.

The list also includes Garcia’s report on alleged crimes committed by lawyer Roberto Bertholdo, linked to the MDB and remembered for his work at the time as a lobbyist in Brasília, with access to political and judicial authorities.

Moro had a special interest in Bertholdo’s name because the lawyer had tapped the then judge’s phone – the episode ended up included in the statement.

During the interrogations conducted by Moro, Garcia was questioned about details of Bertholdo’s actions, which affected people with special jurisdiction, outside the scope of the first degree of Federal Justice.

In one of the cases, Garcia states that, in 2002, Bertholdo obtained a decision from the STJ with the then minister Vicente Leal to stop a process involving Garcia and the Garibaldi Consortium. Garcia had electoral aspirations and feared the consequences of the case.

The whistleblower claims that he deposited R$600,000 in a Bertholdo company and that the money was supposedly destined for Leal to obtain an injunction. “Do you know, after depositing this money, how it [Roberto Bertholdo] did you do to pass this money to the minister?”, Moro asks Garcia, during the interrogation. “No, sir, no”, replies the informer.

The favorable injunction was obtained and, according to Garcia, an additional R$300,000 would still be transferred to the STJ minister when the merits of the case were analyzed. The whistleblower adds that Leal was removed following a disciplinary process, and the second payment was never made.

After the removal of minister Vicente Leal, Garcia claims that Bertholdo would have asked for an additional R$115,000. “Bertholdo said that the money would go to some STJ minister on this occasion?” asks Moro, to whom Garcia says that the money would be used to suspend the process.

Afterwards, Moro insists on the point, to know the destination of the value, and comments that STJ minister Paulo Gallotti, heading the case as rapporteur, would have had “a behavior quite unfavorable to his case”, considering the decisions during the processing of the case. process, which Garcia agreed to.

During the interrogations, Moro also insisted that Garcia explain Bertholdo’s influence in the TRF-4 (Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region), where second instance judges work.

The report sought advice from the former judge and senator, but Moro’s demonstration only took place via social media.

“The investigations conducted by the MPF and carried out by the PF were about influence peddling and illegal wiretapping and resulted in convictions of a lawyer for these crimes, which were handed down by another judge. No judge or magistrate from the TRF4, STJ or any other Court was investigated with my authorization”, wrote Moro this Monday (2).

In the petition submitted by Tony Garcia’s lawyers to the STF, the whistleblower’s defense states that the scope of the agreement signed with the Federal Public Ministry is “absolutely illegal”, even though at the time of the events there were no detailed rules on allegations of this type.

Furthermore, the lawyers continue in the petition to the STF, Moro would be “absolutely incompetent to approve the agreement, as a large part of the facts covered by the legal transaction were not of interest to the Union or concerned authorities that held jurisdiction by function prerogative”.

A Sheet was unable to contact retired STJ ministers Vicente Leal and Paulo Gallotti until the publication of this text.

ATTORNEY SAYS THE REPORTER ‘SOLD SMOKE’

Prosecutor Januário Paludo, who participated in the interrogations as a representative of the Federal Public Ministry, told Sheet that the list of 30 facts narrated by Tony Garcia was so “fantasy” and without a minimum of evidence that the content did not justify a shift in jurisdiction – from the Federal Public Ministry of Paraná to the PGR (Attorney General’s Office).

“The simple fact that you mention a person with forum prerogative does not displace anyone’s competence. This is still common practice within the scope of the STF. You need to have the minimum amount of evidence. And the list [dos 30 fatos] it didn’t hold up. He sold smoke,” says Paludo. “Without proof, he won’t move anywhere.”

Still according to Paludo, he proposed two complaints against Bertholdo, for exploiting prestige and influence peddling. Paludo, who worked at Lava Jato, now works in the civil, tax and social security areas at the Attorney General’s Office linked to the TRF-4.

Lawyer Roberto Bertholdo stated that the whistleblower “succumbed to torture in the dungeon of the Moro Republic, just like so many others”.

When asked about the wiretap he allegedly made to listen to Moro’s conversations, Bertholdo denies it. “I would never do that to anyone. Moro knew that I hadn’t bugged him, he knew that the wiretap had been done by third parties, but they didn’t go after those third parties because they wanted to condemn me”, says Bertholdo.