Chosen for ministry, Luciana Santos was convicted in an action of impropriety

Luciana Santos (PC do B), chosen to head the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations in the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), was convicted at the end of 2019 in an action of administrative impropriety and is awaiting the result of the appeal.

The case concerns the contracting of a company for public lighting services when Santos was mayor of Olinda (PE) and, in the sentence, judge Rafael Carlos de Morais stipulates a fine, suspension of political rights for six years and prohibition of contracting with the Government for five years.

For the defense, the conviction was wrong. “Fortunately, in a rule of law there are remedies for correcting injustices, which are the resources provided for in the legislation”, say the lawyers in a note.

The lawsuit was filed by the Public Ministry against Santos, the former Secretary of Works, municipal public servants and the company that provided the service. According to the MP, several irregularities were committed in the bidding process for the company to win the dispute and execute the lighting services, budgeted at R$ 7,351,290.

Among the deviations detected, the judge highlights: excessive requirements in the public notice for the technical qualification of the provider company; the similarity of the public notice and the contract with the documents used in Lauro de Freitas (BA), where the company provided an identical service; non-compliance with the requirements of the notice; lack of detailed budget; and irregularities in the choice of the execution period of 60 months.

“I also record the fact that approximately 49 companies acquired the public notice, but only 08 submitted proposals, and, from this universe, only the required company was qualified. Therefore, there are strong indications of direction, since it is arguable that, At the time of the facts, there was only one company in Brazil that suited the public notice standards to manage the energy park of a small Brazilian municipality”, writes the magistrate, from the 1st Public Treasury Court of Olinda.

In the sentence, he also points out that the company could not participate in the public tender because it itself, in previous moments, raised and provided all the technical elements for the elaboration of the basic project, thus having privileged information.

According to the judge, if they were considered in isolation, these aspects could remove the responsibility of the favored company and public agents, but, together, they make up “a vast amount of evidence in the sense that the entire bidding procedure was directed”.

At the time, Santos’ defense claimed that she had been listed only because she held the position of mayor at the time of the bidding, with no indication of a crime or irregularity on her part. The judge, however, assessed that, as head of the Executive Branch, she had a duty to manage public activities.

“In this way, given the importance and relevance of the political position held, and, mainly, the management and decision-making power exercised by the holder of the municipal leadership, especially in matters of extremely high relevance, there is no way to remove her responsibility for illegal choices and harmful to the public interest”, he alleges.

The judge adds, on the other hand, that there is no demonstration that Santos or the other defendants have received or diverted public money and that the company effectively provided a service of public relevance, and there is no proof of illicit enrichment or incompatibility of the amounts paid.

“The Public Tender was defrauded, but, on the other hand, the service was performed by the beneficiary company, although it is not known, concretely, the exact extent of the damage caused by non-compliance with the bidding procedure, with direct repercussions on the amount that would be pledged by the Municipality”, concludes the magistrate in the sentence, available on pages 898 to 910 of the Electronic Justice Diary of December 9, 2019.

Other side

At the time of the sentence, Santos’ defense, composed of Alysson Vasconcelos, Euvânia Muñoz, Anne Cabral and Alexandre Carvalho, issued a note stating that the contract only generated benefits for Olinda and that the State Court of Auditors, when judging the same issue , did not verify bidding direction. Read the full position here.

In an interview with Sheet this Saturday (24), Cabral said that, after the sentence, embargoes of declaration were presented and an appeal was lodged. She reinforced that Santos did not participate directly in the bidding process and that the sentence itself does not identify any damage to the treasury.

The lawyer also emphasized that the modernization of the city’s lighting generated monthly savings of BRL 95,000 and that, while the case is not ultimately judged, the presumption of innocence prevails and Santos remains eligible, as well as able to contract with the Public Power.

In addition to appearing in case nº 0000685-21.2008.8.17.0990, Santos appears in two other actions, both of which have not yet been judged. One of them deals with the use of an official aircraft to travel to the city of Brejo da Madre de Deus in November 2021, when the vice governor was acting governor. For the defense, it is an accusation presented with political objectives, with the aim of eroding Santos’ image.

In the other case, the future minister is listed among the defendants in an action on the waiver of bidding for the leasing of vehicles for the Municipal Health Department.

“There were no vehicles and there was no tender in progress for hiring them, which is why the Health Department of the Municipality of Olinda at the time had no choice but to hire by waiver based on an emergency while preparing the bidding process aimed at definitive hiring”, says the defense in a note.