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A criminal organization, led by a former federal and state deputy from Ceará, raised approximately R $ 600 million, with fraud to bids of the Municipality of Fortaleza (PMF), for 20 years, according to an investigation by the Federal Police (PF). The politician was arrested in flagrante delicto, in possession of R $ 2 million in cash, in the outbreak of the second phase of Operation Km Livre, yesterday. Public officials are still under investigation.
The PF did not reveal the suspect’s identification, but confirmed that the money was seized at the same address that was the subject of searches in the first phase of the Operation, which began in September 2016. It is a car rental company in the Fátima neighborhood, in Fortaleza, owned by former MP Adail Carneiro. The politician and his defense could not be reached for comment.
According to the PF, the frauds occurred in public tenders for the rental of vehicles in various departments, which went through different administrations of the City of Fortaleza for two decades, including the terms of Luizianne Lins (PT) and Roberto Cláudio (PDT). Wanted, Luizianne did not comment on the Operation until the close of this matter.
The management, Roberto Cláudio, considered, in a note, “not knowing what the operation is about, since it refers only to an investigation into a private company, without any municipal public servant or municipal administration body having been targeted of the operation”. “As always, management stands in support of each and every one of the serious and exempt operations that investigate the use of public resources,” he added.
Scheme
The regional delegate for the Fight against Organized Crime of the Federal Police, Alan Robson Alexandrino, summarizes that Operation Km Livre investigates “a criminal organization that operates in public tenders, with vehicle rental contracts. And from these contracts, generating diversion of public resources and the consequent money laundering “.
These companies used companies authorized by intermediaries, which we call ‘oranges’, to participate in the same tender, forging a fictitious contest. One of these companies, controlled by the criminal organization, won the process and, from there, contracts were signed to provide this vehicle rental service ”, details the federal delegate Joécio Duarte de Holanda, Operation Coordinator.
According to the PF, the criminal organization used three companies, which took turns in the car rental service to the City Council, during the 20 years. One of them provides services to this day, due to a bidding process that was carried out in 2019, with federal resources. The General Comptroller of the Federation (CGU) assisted in the investigation of the PF.
Money laundering would be carried out with the acquisition of real estate, companies and transactions in the financial market. According to the investigation, there is strong evidence of the illicit purchase of securities brokers and participation in companies in the wind energy sector in Ceará.
Seizures
During the second phase of Operation Km Livre, the Federal Police issued 27 search and seizure orders yesterday, distributed in the municipalities of Fortaleza (15 orders), Caucaia (one) and Russas (five), in Ceará; Mossoró (four), in Rio Grande do Norte; and in Rio de Janeiro (two orders).
In one of the targets, the Bairro de Fátima car rental company, 2 million reais in cash were found hidden in cardboard boxes. A stockbroker seized gold, currency, and real estate in Leblon, a noble neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro.
In the first phase of the Transaction, launched on September 9, 2016, the FP also seized a millionaire amount in cash: R $ 6 million, in the same place as the car rental company. The money was not reported to the IRS, according to investigations.
At that time, Adail Carneiro was a state deputy and had a privileged forum. Therefore, the search and seizure order had to be determined by Minister Rosa Weber, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The politician affirmed, at that time, that he was dismissed from the company – belonging to his family – and that the money seized was legal.
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