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BRASÍLIA – The Second Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided this Tuesday to suspend the criminal process initiated yesterday by the Federal Court 13 in Curitiba against the Minister of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) Vital do Rêgo. He is accused of corruption and money laundering at Car Wash. The decision was made by two votes to two. Minister Celso de Mello was absent, on sick leave. According to criminal law, in view of the tie, the most advantageous solution for the accused must be adopted.
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Vital do Rêgo is accused of obstructing the work of Petrobras’ Joint Parliamentary Investigation Commission (CPMI), of which he was president, at the time a senator. It would have favored entrepreneurs in exchange for donations for the 2014 election campaign.
The current TCU minister was being investigated in an investigation at the STF, but the case was referred to the lower court when his term as senator ended. The lawyers affirm that the Second Panel has not yet concluded the appeal against this decision, which was adopted by Lava-Jato’s rapporteur, Minister Edson Fachin. Then they asked that the process be suspended.
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According to the Federal Public Ministry, Vital do Rêgo received R $ 3 million from Leo Pinheiro, then president of the OAS, for which the contractor’s executives were not summoned to testify in CPMI and CPI in the Senate in 2014. Even so, according to the complaint, the CPI in the Senate had 11 meetings and listened to 16 people. CPMI had 26 meetings and 12 statements. No contractors were called or heard.
The registration fees, according to the MPF, were paid through transfers to intermediaries and companies based in Paraíba, through fictitious contracts concluded between the OAS and these companies. The MPF is also investigating the donation, at the same time, of R $ 1 million by the contractor to the PMDB.
When voting, Gilmar Mendes said that the complaint was received considering only the allegations of the complainant and voted to suspend the criminal action. Ricardo Lewandowski agreed. On the other side were Fachin and Minister Carmen Lucía. The tie led to the most beneficial decision for the accused. The decision is valid until the Second Panel finishes judging the appeal in the Vital do Rêgo forum.
