Public Ministry asks for suspension of Auxílio Brasil loans

The Public Ministry of the TCU (Court of Accounts of the Union) presented a request for a precautionary measure for the court to order Caixa Econômica Federal to stop making new payroll-deductible loans to beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil.

Deputy Attorney Lucas Furtado, who signs the document, also asks that the criteria adopted by the public bank for the concession be evaluated, with the aim of preventing its use for merely electoral purposes.

He wants to know whether this is to the detriment of the bank’s linked purposes, relating to the protection of national security, or the service of collective interest.

Sought, Caixa informed that it has not yet been notified of the representation.

According to the deputy attorney, the precautionary measures, if accepted, should be valid until the court of auditors makes a definitive statement on the matter.

“I come before the TCU to express extreme concern and denounce acts carried out by Caixa Econômica Federal, possibly in deviation of purpose, which have become public and notorious, and in the end to request from this court of accounts the appropriate measures to avoid damage to the coffers of that public bank, as well as to reestablish the morality of public administration”, he says.

For Furtado, “in the current scenario, with the approach of the second round of elections and with the difficulties faced by the president in the polls of voting intentions, everything indicates that it is a measure destined to primarily serve political-electoral interests, which relegate the interest public to the background, with a view to obtaining personal benefits to the detriment of the population”.

The deputy attorney cites a report published in Sheet which reported that Caixa released R$ 1.8 billion in payroll-deductible loans to 700,000 beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil and BPC (Benefício de Prestação Continuada) in three days of operation in the last week.

The average loan amount was around R$2,600, according to Daniella Marques, president of Caixa.

Caixa began offering the new loan last Tuesday (11), with an interest rate of 3.45% per month – slightly below the ceiling of 3.5% per month set by the Ministry of Citizenship. The loan can be made in up to two years, in 24 successive monthly installments.

Furtado says that there are doubts as to whether the procedures intended to safeguard the bank’s interests and, consequently, the public interest are being respected.

He cites article 173 of the Federal Constitution, which says that the direct exploitation of economic activity by the State will only be allowed when necessary for the imperatives of national security or the relevant collective interest, as defined by law.

Another point mentioned is Law 13,303, of 2016, which provides that the constitution of a public company for the exploitation of economic activity will depend on prior legal authorization that clearly indicates a relevant collective interest or imperative of national security.

“Obviously, the public company must be able to demonstrate in its performance, and in any decision related to its core activity, that it has been guided by the same principles that authorized its constitution, that is, the defense of national security or the service of relevant collective interest. This is not what seems to have happened in the case reported above”, says the deputy attorney.

Caixa also releases credit for women entrepreneurs

The bank has been publicizing a series of initiatives in recent weeks. On the eve of the second round of elections, Caixa also announced that it will release R$ 1 billion in credit to boost the formalization of women entrepreneurs who currently work in the market without CNPJ.

Those who are negative will also have access to credit of up to R$ 1,000, at an interest rate of 3.6% per month, as long as they go through the formalization process as MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs). The amount can be requested until November 19, World Women’s Entrepreneurship Day.

Asked about the new release of credit less than two weeks before the second electoral round, which will be on the 30th, Marques said he had “technical autonomy to exercise the presidency of the bank”.

For Furtado, “it should also be noted that the reported facts denote, in theory, inadequate use of public office, supposedly motivated by political and personal interests, which may characterize an eventual crime of responsibility, for attacking the internal security of the country and probity in public administration, under the terms of article 85, item IV and V, of the Federal Constitution”, he says.

The deputy attorney also asked that copies of the representation and of the decision that may be rendered be forwarded to the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate, to the STF (Federal Supreme Court) and to the PGR (Attorney General’s Office).