The Public Prosecutor’s Office with the TCU (Court of Accounts of the Union) pointed out strong signs of irregularity in the promotion of drivers at a state-owned company controlled by naval officials and asked this Tuesday (16) for an investigation into the act, with the identification of those responsible and reimbursement to public coffers, if necessary.
The MP’s request was based on a report published by sheet this Monday (15). The report revealed the promotion of four drivers by directors of Nuclep (Nuclebrás Equipamentos Pesados), carried out by the directors of the state-owned company. The salary of drivers, who gained positions of trust and became assistants, jumped from R$ 3,400 to R$ 18,600, a difference of 447%.
The loss to the public coffers with the maneuver was BRL 1.4 million, according to an audit by the CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) completed in July 2018. The calculation took into account salary payments in 2016 and 2017.
The decision to promote the drivers on the board was led by the current president of Nuclep, the Rear Admiral of the Reserve Carlos Henrique Silva Seixas. At the time of the executive board’s decision, on August 3, 2016, he was the managing director of the state-owned company.
At the same meeting was Vice Admiral Liberal Enio Zanelatto, then Nuclep’s industrial director. Today he is the navy’s industrial director.
The other two directors who validated the promotion, considered illegal by the CGU, are civilians. Nuclep’s current board has three high-ranking naval officers.
The CGU detected the illegality, put in a report the details of the damage to the treasury, asked for an investigation into the conduct of those responsible and recommended reimbursement of the amounts. An internal investigation by Nuclep ended up being shelved, with no blame and no refunds.
When the CGU concluded the investigation, the government minister of Mines and Energy Jair Bolsonaro, reserve squadron admiral Bento Albuquerque, was a member of Nuclep’s Board of Directors. The collegiate did not adopt specific measures regarding the promotion of drivers to assistants.
“The case ended up being filed after an internal investigation, making it clear to the taxpayer that public resources continue to be used to immorally enrich people close to government officials,” said Attorney General Lucas Rocha Furtado, responsible for representation at the TCU for the case to be investigated.
For Furtado, there are strong signs of irregularity in the promotion of drivers. “Administrative maneuvers to benefit friends of authorities such as the ones that have been reported here constitute a real affront and aggression to the taxpayer.”
The representation was presented to the president of TCU, Minister Ana Arraes, as is customary in this type of procedure. The assistant attorney asked for an investigation into irregularities, identification of those responsible for the promotion and reimbursement of irregularly paid resources, if applicable.
The minutes of the 573rd meeting of the executive board of Nuclep, on August 3, 2016, describe how the granting of positions of trust to the board’s drivers was given, an act of the board itself.
TCU already has an open procedure, since 2018, to investigate “possible cases of irregular functional ascension” at Nuclep. No resolution was adopted in the process.
The rapporteur is Minister Jorge Oliveira, appointed to the position by the president. He is a friend of the Bolsonaro family. Oliveira has already worked at TCU to shield the government or to postpone decisions unfavorable to the administration he was part of as deputy chief for Legal Affairs at the Civil House and as minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy, in a statement, stated that Nuclep’s internal affairs department concluded that the investigation was closed, “given the absence of damage to the treasury and willful misconduct, a conclusion that had the seal of the CGU’s own sector inspector.”
“Minister Bento Albuquerque, during the period in which he was a member of Nuclep’s Board of Directors, greatly contributed to the approval of several measures that, without doubt, improved the company’s governance,” stated the folder.
Among the measures mentioned is an expansion of the powers of the board to a greater extent in the inspection of the management acts of the executive board, with advice from an audit committee.
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