Chapecoense’s CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) should end without hearing representatives of the British insurance company Tokio Marine Kiln, the subject of lawsuits for not having paid compensation to the families of the victims of the tragedy.
Ultimately, it is from Tokyo that families demand compensation that, more than five years after the tragedy, has not yet been paid. There are lawsuits in Brazil, the United Kingdom (where it is based) and the United States — where the amount of payment to families was set at R$ 4.2 billion, as revealed by the Sheet.
Tokio Marine Kiln acted as reinsurer of LaMia flight 2933, which crashed outside MedellÃn (Colombia) at the end of 2016, when it was taking the Chapecoense team to play in the Copa Sudamericana final. The accident left 71 dead, including athletes, managers, journalists and employees.
In February, an application was approved to invite Brad Irick, the company’s CEO, for a deposition. Since then, there have been no more CPI meetings.
The commission’s work was recently extended and is expected to end on July 11. But before that, this Wednesday (18), the 14th meeting of the group will be held, and on the agenda is the deliberation of the final report of the investigation.
While parliamentarians signal the end of work, widows of victims, survivors and senators understand that the investigation should continue.
“I can’t understand the reason for the closure now. We gathered data and facts for the CPI and it was the most important moment, trying to hear the president of Tokio Marine [Kiln]”, said Neto, a defender who survived the fall, Sheet.
“Continuity would be important, even because of the pressure against companies. I respect the Senate’s decision. Despite the enormous effort of the senators, six years after the accident, we continue to be neglected by companies”, said Fabienne Belle, widow of physiologist Luiz César Martins. Cunha and president of Afav-C (Association of Relatives of Chapecoense Flight Victims).
On the agenda of this Wednesday’s meeting is, in addition to two more testimonies, the deliberation on the final report of the investigation, written by Senator Izalci Lucas (PSDB-DF).
The CPI will end if the report is approved by a vote or if the majority of its members decide to close it. The deliberation of the text may last more than one session. Sought by the report, senator Jorginho Mello (PL-SC) did not respond, as did Tokio Marine Kiln.
“I wanted it to go ahead exactly to hear this company and I wanted to insist, even if other members don’t agree, that the federal government should enter this case, with all the power that a CPI doesn’t have, to demand a solution. Flamengo or Palmeiras, wouldn’t he join?”, said Jorge Kajuru (Podemos-GO), holder of the commission.
“We can make an extra effort, press a little more to reach an agreement. After these meetings on April 6th and 7th, which I pushed hard to make them happen, we have to force the negotiation a little more”, commented Esperidião Amin (PP-SC), also holder.
The meetings to which the senator refers took place in Rio de Janeiro, in the office of lawyer Luis Adams — he and Henrique Junqueira, who works with senator Jorginho Mello (PL-SC), president of the CPI, were intermediaries of the meeting, which included with representatives of the victims’ families and Tokyo.
At the meeting, an attempt at conciliation between the parties, the insurance company offered an agreement with payment of US$ 25 million (R$ 123.5 million) to the families – an amount ten times smaller than the request by the families, of US$ 250 million (R$ $1.2 billion). It is worth remembering that the US Justice stipulated that the compensation to the victims should be US$ 844 million (R$ 4.2 billion).
The value offered by the insurance company is the same as stated in the LaMia flight policy. However, this contract is contested by the defense of the families and has even been used by Tokio Marine Kiln itself to justify the non-payment of compensation to the victims.
The defense claims that the policy had been defined as if the flight was a career flight, which resulted in a value lower than that generally practiced for football teams.
The contract also had a clause that excluded the territory of Colombia, the destination of the flight, from the insurance coverage area – which is why Tokio Marine Kiln itself refused to pay compensation –, which should have prevented the aircraft from taking off.
“We had hoped to continue the negotiation. Now, we are going to focus on the legal proceedings and try to use the World Cup and the support of other clubs to not let this case fall by the wayside”, said Dhayane Pallaoro, daughter of the then president of the club. and who was on the flight, Sandro Pallaoro.
As revealed by Sheetdocuments in the British Court show that, in addition to Tokio Marine Kiln (reinsurer), Bisa (flight insurer) and Aon (broker), 12 other companies can be held responsible for the tragedy.
In the insurance market, the same policy can be divided among competitors, with different percentages between them. The data is important because Bisa does not have the financial capacity to pay for the insurance – which would then be the responsibility of the reinsurer.
If the victims’ and survivors’ families win the case, these 13 companies would have to share the policy’s discharge — the documentation, however, does not say what percentage each company has in LaMia’s reinsurance.
In addition to Tokio, the insurance broker Aon is seen as another key player in this story, as, in the widows’ view, it should not have allowed the contract to be made.
The flight controller who authorized the aircraft’s flight plan, even with several problems, Celia Castedo Monasterio, was arrested in 2021 – she claims that the responsibility for inspecting these details was the airport runway employees.
Furthermore, at the beginning of the year the Sheet showed that Chapecoense failed to pay the compensation agreement to the victims of the tragedy.
In response, family members asked that the photos of the victims be removed from the website and the club’s stadium, which is in the process of judicial recovery.
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