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The lawyer Frederick Wassef, one of the targets of a search and seizure order that was carried out today in a set of actions that investigates the suspicion of a fraud scheme in Sistema S and Fecomércio-RJ, is being investigated by the group Operation Lava Jato. under suspicion of having diverted R $ 2.6 million.
According to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), the funds allegedly diverted were transferred to Wassef’s office by the Prosecutor’s Office Eluf and Santos Sociedade de Advogados, hired to work in administrative processes and in the development of these cases in the Senac (National Service of Commercial Learning) and Sesc (Social Service of Commerce) courts in Rio between December 2016 and May 2017.
Linked to the Bolsonaro family, Wassef took Fabrício Queiroz to his home in Atibaia (SP), where he was arrested on the morning of June 18. Despite being the target of today’s action, Wassef did not become a defendant.
Based on the violation of bank secrecy, the MPF tested transfers of approximately R $ 4.5 million for the provision of services in an interval of just five months. Of this amount, R $ 2.6 million were transferred to the Wassef office, equivalent to R $ 58% of the total received.
According to the MPF, these amounts were destined to the practice of money laundering “for services that were not actually provided.”
To indicate the alleged scheme, the MPF is based on the proof of these transfers – carried out in sequence during the contract period – seized at the home of Orlando Diniz, former president of Fecomércio-RJ. Senac and Sesc do Rio, who collaborated with the investigations through an award letter.
A document attached to the complaint shows the report submitted by the Office Eluf and Santos Sociedade de Advogados to inform what services were provided to the entities. The company only said that it had not acted in lawsuits and that it would have acted only in administrative proceedings.
However, in the understanding of the MPF, the clarifications were not sufficient to justify the amount received by the law firm – on average, about R $ 900 thousand per month paid in seven installments. According to Orlando Diniz, it was Wassef who attended the entities.
Asked about the actual provision of services, Diniz limited himself to saying that “it was not worth it”, citing the amounts charged for the contract. However, the MPF relied on the statement to conclude that the intermediation of another law firm was “a disguised way of hiring the lawyer. [Wassef]”, including the deposits that accredited the concession.
As can be seen, the use of an intermediary by Frederick Wassef to receive money (…) is shown as a practice and form of repeated action for the practice of money laundering ”, concludes the MPF, based on the data company banking. of the lawyer
MPF complaint excerpt
Then, the MPF requested a financial report from Coaf, which confirmed two deposits in kind made by Wassef in his own account of R $ 49,900 each in December 2017, months after the lawyer worked with the entities.
According to the investigation, there are signs of “fractionation”. “This objective circumstance is a strong manifestation of intentionality regarding the concealment of the movement of values derived from crime,” says the MPF.
What Wassef Said
Today, Frederick Wassef said he had no connection to the fraud scheme. “I have never committed any crime in my life and I have never been investigated or responded to any lawsuit,” the lawyer said in a statement.
“Whistleblower Orlando Diniz is deliberately lying about me at the behest of unscrupulous attorneys who are using him as a guided missile to target me and serve the interests of another common client,” he added.
The report could not contact the Office Eluf and Santos Sociedade de Advogados. If submitted, your post will be included in this text.
How the scheme worked
Called E $ burns S, the operation had the collaboration of the MPF, the PF (Federal Police) and the Federal Revenue Service, which carried out 50 search warrants and seizures on a fraud scheme in the S system and in Fecomercio Fluminenses. The investigation found that around R $ 355 million was spent on contracts made with Fecomércio RJ and paid by the S system, which includes Sesc and Senac, for legal services that would not have been performed.
According to the MP, the scheme was led by Orlando Santos Diniz, a former manager of the entities and who denounced the scheme in a plea deal. It was also reported.
