The investigation indicates the purchase of materials from the front company for the photovoltaic field hospital – Security

The joint operation of the Federal Police (PF) and the General Comptroller of the Federation (CGU) indicates that a front company was used to sell health materials that were supposedly going to equip the President Vargas Stadium Field Hospital, built to treat patients with COVID-19, in Fortaleza.

“The investigation points to indications that the pulse oximeters used in the Hospital de Campanha do PV were acquired in a front company. A company that did not have the capacity to supply these goods, in a millionaire acquisition. The investigators were in the company and declared that the company sold the product acquired through bidding, ”says Federal Delegate Alan Robson Alexandrino.

According to the researchers, the damage to the public coffers would be R $ 7 million. The City Council of Fortaleza denies the accusations and assures that “the correct and austere use of public resources will be verified to protect and save lives during the pandemic.”

According to the delegate, there are also signs of overpriced (pay more than you should): “I quote here a comparison with the state of Piauí, a comparison with the purchases made in the state of Paraíba. The prices purchased at the Campanha Hospital (PV), of the equipment used, were more expensive, despite purchases are in greater quantity “.

The director of Special Operations of CGU, Isral José Reis de Carvalho, mentions that the Campanha Hospital had 204 beds. But 300 parallelogram monitors were bought. The rest was distributed among the capital’s health centers. For the Authority, this represents a misuse of public resources.

According to Alexandrino, “this reflection (of crimes) is not only reflected in the figures. There is in the Police Investigation records that these crimes reflect the health of the population of Ceará, who suffered from the lack of equipment, basic materials to maintain health. The greatest damage was delivered to the health of the population, which was being cared for by the issue of the pandemic. “

PF and CGU Trigger Red Card Operation

The Federal Police and the Comptroller General of the Union unleashed, on the morning of this Tuesday (3), the Operation Red Card, which investigates the alleged diversion of public resources destined to combat the new coronavirus in Fortaleza. Are met 27 search and seizure warrants in the homes of those investigated, 13 in the capital, another 13 in São Paulo and one in Pelotas (RS).

The Operation arises from a Police Investigation instituted in June 2020 to investigate crimes of corruption, embezzlement / embezzlement of federal public resources and fraud in a bid waiver procedure in the context of the confrontation with the coronavirus, in Fortaleza, specifically in the Hospital Campaign installed in the Presidente Vargas Stadium.

Police investigation points losses to public coffers exceeding R $ 7 million, having been authorized by the Federal Justice to block these amounts in the accounts of the investigated legal entities. The investigations continue with an analysis of the material seized in the police operation and the financial flow of the suspects.

The Federal Police pointed out indications of criminal activity by public servants of the Municipal Health Secretariat of Fortaleza (SMS), managers and members of the commission for monitoring and evaluating the management contract, leaders of the São Paulo social organization hired to administer the field hospital and businessmen.

Evidence of fraud in the tender

According to the Federal Police, the investigations showed signs of fraud in the choice of the company hired in the bid waiver; purchase of equipment from a facade company; mismanagement and inspection of the application of public resources in the field hospital and overpricing of the equipment acquired, compared to other national acquisitions under the same conditions in the context of a pandemic crisis.

Those investigated may respond, to the extent of their responsibilities, for the crimes of fraud against bidding, embezzlement, ordering of expenses not authorized by law and criminal organization and, if convicted, they may serve sentences of up to 33 years in prison. The Red Card Operation has the participation of 120 federal police officers and 22 CGU servers.

According to CGU, Fortaleza received around R $ 268 million of the National Health Fund (FNS) to face the public health emergency caused by the new coronavirus, in 2020, until the month of October.

CGU alleged that it had identified several irregularities in the “formalization and execution of the contract” between the City of Fortaleza and the social organization contracted to manage the photovoltaic field hospital, including the acquisition of services at prices higher than those of equivalents in other contracts formalized by public administration in the same market circumstances; the deficiency in the formulation of indicators capable of demonstrating the efficiency of the management model of the Social Health Organization (OSS) for the PV field hospital; the payment of overpayments and the occurrence of irregularities in the acquisition of multi-parameter monitors.

What the City Council of Fortaleza says

The Mayor’s Office of Fortaleza said, in a note, that “throughout the period of the pandemic it has collaborated in a comprehensive manner with all the control actions of the external control bodies, acting with absolute transparency, and that it has carried out with total fluidity and efficiency all the management process in the construction and operation of the Campaña Hospital in the Presidente Vargas Stadium ”.

The City Council stressed that the equipment attended 1,239 patients and saved 1,025 lives in four months of operation. We are convinced that at the end of this inspection action the correct and austere use of public resources will be verified to protect and save lives during the pandemic ”, the message highlights.

The municipal executive maintains that he has always stood out in the recognition of fiscal responsibility practices, having installed a Control, Transparency and Governance Commission that functioned permanently, “in line with the Federal Public Ministry, the State Public Ministry, the State Court of Accounts and the CGU itself “

The accountability of the contract for the field hospital was already available on a portal created specifically to give full transparency to the actions to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to the City Council.