Head of Inquiry on Brazil’s Kickback Scandal Vows There Will Be No Whitewashing

In the two weeks since it was installed, Brazil’s Parliamentary Investigative Commission (CPI) that is looking into a scandal at the Post Office has heard testimony from seven witnesses and ordered bank and telephone records of those involved.

The CPI is also examining some 90 contracts at the Post Office, along with other documents from the Federal Police, the Controller General Office and the Post Office itself.


The chairman of the CPI (as this is a joint commission, with members from the Senate and Chamber, it is correctly called a CPMI – the “M” standing for “misto” – “joint”), senator Delcí­dio Amaral (PT-MS), says the investigation is running a normal course.


The first thing the CPI examined was a video tape of the then-head of the Department of Contracts and Material, Maurí­cio Marinho, who talked about a corruption scheme.


The CPI has been investigating everyone mentioned in the film or involved in making the film (that includes Marinho, and businessmen Arthur Washeck and Antonio Velasco).


In the film, Marinho accuses the president of the PTB, Roberto Jefferson, from Rio de Janeiro, of commanding a kickback scheme in the Post Office.


Jefferson has since charged that the PT has been paying monthly allowances (mensalão) to members of the PP and PL parties so they would vote with the government.


Besides the Marinho film, the CPI has been investigating the Jefferson accusations, which has led them to an adman, Marcos Valério, supposedly the mensalão moneyman, his wife, Renilda de Souza, and his ex-secretary, Fernanda Karina Somaggio.


“Although the political situation is complicated, our investigations are moving ahead. I want to make it clear this CPI is not going to whitewash anything. We will come up with results,” said Amaral.


ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br

Tags:

You May Also Like

Varig Buyers Can’t Produce Deposit Money on Time. They Get New Deadline.

Brazilian Varig Airline employees are planning a demonstration at company headquarters in Rio de ...

Pope Benedict XVI

Lula Wants Pope to Show the World Brazil’s Good Social Policies

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced this morning during his weekly radio ...

Brazil Hikes Gas 10%, a First in Three Years

Brazil's Finance Minister, Guido Mantega, has just announced a 10% hike in the price ...

Brazil’s Offers its Water Know-How to Libya’s Great Man-Made River

Brazil's Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) is interested in participating in an agricultural project ...

A Walk in the Park, Brazil-style

Like many Paulistas, when I go for a walk in the park I usually ...

Brazil’s Petrobras Chooses U.S. PR Firm

Brazil’s oil giant Petrobras – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., has chosen global investor and public ...

Brazil Jumps on Organic Bandwagon and Becomes World’s 6th Organics Grower

The Brazilian southern state of Paraná is considered a model in organic production in ...

Titanic Days

After three years of success with inflation brought to its lowest level in 40 ...

From Brazil’s Inequality Women Get the Larger Share

On its 20th anniversary, Brazil’s National Women’s Defense Council still faces the challenge of ...

Brazil Creates Sovereign Wealth Fund Against Congress’s Wishes

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, has signed a law creating ...