MPT recommends Caixa Econômica to stop paying salaries to Pedro Guimarães

Prosecutor Paulo Neto, from the MPT (Ministry of Labor), recommended today, in a letter sent to the president of Caixa Econômica Federal, Daniella Marques, that the salary of the former president of the state bank Pedro Guimarães be suspended. The economist resigned at the end of June, after the website Metrópoles published reports of employees who had been victims of moral and sexual harassment by him. However, the bank’s statute establishes that employees on leave receive an amount equivalent to the monthly fee for their function. With that, he should continue to receive a monthly salary of R$ 56 thousand.

Caixa admitted, in a note released at the end of June, that it received complaints of harassment and opened an internal investigation in May this year. The position was released after Guimarães’ resignation was published in the DOU (Official Union Gazette). He had been nominated for the position by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in 2019.

To replace Guimarães, the government announced Daniella Marques Consentino, considered one of the protagonists of Paulo Guedes’ administration at the Ministry of Economy. The appointment was anticipated by columnist Carla Araújo, from UOL.

“The President of the Republic, in the exercise of the attribution conferred on him by the Constitution, and in view of the Statute of Caixa Econômica Federal, resolves to exonerate, upon request, Pedro Guimarães from the position of president of Caixa Econômica Federal and to appoint Daniella Consentino to exercise the position”, highlighted the DOU.

In the letter with the resignation, the former head of the state-owned company denied the accusations.

The fall of Pedro Guimaraes

The cases reported by Caixa employees against Pedro Guimarães include unauthorized intimate touches, inappropriate approaches and incompatible invitations to the employment relationship. The complaints are being investigated by the Federal Public Ministry. The TCU (Union Court of Auditors) also asked control bodies to open an investigation.

After the allegations, Guimarães said during a Caixa event that he has “a whole life guided by ethics” and pride in how he behaved throughout his life. The former president of Caixa is married to Manuella Guimarães, daughter of Lava Jato whistleblower Léo Pinheiro. He is 57 years old and has two children. He holds a degree in Economics from PUC-RJ (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro) and has three master’s degree courses, one at the University of Rochester, in the United States. Before taking over Caixa, he worked at BTG Pactual and Plural banks.

A specialist in privatizations, Guimarães took charge of Caixa in January 2019 after being appointed to the post by the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, at the beginning of the Bolsonaro administration. Since then, Guimarães has moved away from the head of the portfolio and has become one of the closest names to Jair Bolsonaro (PL), participating several times in the president’s weekly live.

In April, Guimarães said he would move to Africa if Bolsonaro is not re-elected this year, showed the column by Bela Megale, from the newspaper O Globo. According to the columnist, the speech would have taken place during a dinner promoted by the group Esfera Brasil.

controversies

UOL columnist Ricardo Kotscho says that Guimarães had already been investigated in an internal administrative process at Caixa in 2019 on suspicion of involvement with an employee. At the end of last year, Guimarães was the subject of controversy for having put employees to do push-ups during an end-of-year event for the institution’s managers. On the occasion, on stage and in the audience, directors and vice-presidents of Caixa made the movements in two moments, under the boss’s count.

Emergency aid gave Guimarães spotlight

Previously considered a discreet figure, Guimarães was placed in the spotlight after the beginning of the pandemic, when the federal government created financial relief measures for the population. The best known of these was emergency aid, a benefit paid by the government through the bank. As a result, Guimarães became the centerpiece of several government announcements and interviews about the aid.

considered in ministries

Guimarães was even quoted to assume the position of former minister Rogério Marinho, who left the command of the Regional Development portfolio to run for the Senate for Rio Grande do Norte. In addition, Guimarães was also considered as a replacement for Paulo Guedes in moments of crisis in the portfolio of his godfather in the government, according to Folha.

“I don’t control what people say. But I have no differences with Minister Paulo Guedes. From an objective point of view, I am very proud to be Caixa’s president — and that is my mission in government,” Guimarães told Veja when commenting. these rumors.