A director of Caixa Econômica Federal was found dead this Wednesday (20) at the bank’s headquarters in Brasília. Sergio Ricardo Faustino Batista was the institution’s executive director of Internal Controls and Integrity.
The causes of death are being investigated by the PCDF (Civil Police of the Federal District), but the preliminary investigation indicates that it was a case of suicide. The bank said it is contributing to the authorities and providing support to the employee’s family and friends.
“Caixa expresses deep regret for the death of employee Sérgio Ricardo Faustino Batista. Our sincere feelings to friends and family, to whom we are providing full support and welcome. The bank contributes with the investigations to confirm the causes of what happened”, said the company.
According to the Civil Police, the case was preliminarily classified as a suicide “because the victim was found dead outside the Caixa Econômica Federal headquarters building”.
Batista was in charge of the Internal Controls and Integrity Directorate since March. The board is responsible for the whistleblowing channel and is the first in the bank to receive reports of harassment and other irregularities sent by employees to an external company hired by Caixa.
The episode takes place amid the repercussions of a series of complaints against the former command of the company. Since accusations of sexual and moral harassment against former president Pedro Guimarães came to light, the MPT (Ministry of Labor) and the TCU (Union Court of Auditors) opened procedures to investigate what was happening at Caixa.
The accusation of harassment against Pedro Guimarães is also being investigated by the Federal District Attorney’s Office. He left office on June 29.
On Tuesday (19), the bank announced changes in the internal affairs department and removed two names linked to the former president: Antonio Carlos Ferreira de Sousa, former vice-president of Logistics and Operations, and Camila de Freitas Aichinger, former vice-president of Retail Network.
The internal affairs department will no longer be subordinate to the presidency and will be linked to the Board of Directors — which is also made up of independent members and an employee representative.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
