Justice accepts complaint and puts former Gov. Beto Richa in court for passive bribery and criminal organization | Paraná

The acceptance of the complaint was announced Sunday (10). G1 contacted the Toucan Defense at 7:25 am this Monday (11) and did not receive any position until the last update of this article.

In addition to the former governor of Paraná, nine other people were sentenced for the same crimes. This is the complaint that investigates the political core.

According to the MPF, the project diverted $ 8.4 billion from the increase in toll rates of the integration network and unrealized road works. According to prosecutors, the bribe paid in exchange for benefits would have been estimated at at least 35 million re.

Beto Richa was arrested on January 25, during the 58th phase of the Lava Jato operation, but was released by decision of the President of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Minister João Otávio de Noronha .

At the time, Richa's defense stated that he had not committed any irregularities and that he was always available to provide clarification.

This is not the first time that Richa has become a defendant. The court received the complaint against him, for example as part of the Radio Patrol operation, which was investigating a bribe ploy through calls for tenders in the program "Patrulha do Campo".

The MPF divided the charges into two complaints. This involves public officials, such as Beto Richa, Pepe Richa – brother of the former governor and former Secretary of Infrastructure and State Logistics – and eight other people.

The other complaint concerns contractors involved in the project.

Of the accused, 23 accused are former presidents of the six dealers investigated in the course of the operation, as well as employees of the Regulatory Agency of Paraná (Agepar) and the Department roads (DER).

Everyone will react through organized crime and active corruption. Judge Paulo Sérgio Ribeiro rejected the money laundering complaint.

Judge Paulo Sérgio Ribeiro rejected the money laundering complaint. He argued that "there is apparent evidence of the importance and sufficient indications of authorship to characterize the just cause necessary to receive the complaint".

During the investigations, the MPF submitted extensive evidence on the importance of criminal offenses involving the execution of federal road concession contracts in the State of Paraná (known as the "Ring of Justice"). the integration of Paraná ")

The denunciations claim that the system of payment of gratuity by toll concessionaries began about 20 years ago. According to prosecutors, corruption has increased toll rates.

In a statement, the former director of the Paraná Highways Department, Nelson Leal Júnior, said that the irregularities started in 1997, during the presentation. dealer proposals, which were overpriced.

In addition, the researchers say that the method used to calculate the investments that the concessionaires were required to make in the works on the highways allowed the companies to withdraw from the works already undertaken, on the grounds that they had already achieved the financial goal set by them.

According to Lava Jato, utilities have agreed to double 995.7 km of motorways at the start of contracts, but to date, only 273.5 km have been doubled.

"The damage goes much further and covers the entire production chain of the state of Paraná, which no longer needs an adequate infrastructure.We have a much worse road infrastructure than the one we should have, "said lawyer Deltan. Dallagnol.

The MPF states that, from 1999, the year of the beginning of the concessions, the six companies responsible for the highways of the Circle of Integration began to meet at the headquarters of the Brazilian Association of Road Dealers (ABCR) to agree on the payment of fees for public officials, in return for the conclusion of favorable contractual additions to the companies.

In the beginning, companies collected and distributed about R $ 120,000 per month of tips to public officials.

This amount has increased over the years, as a result of toll rate adjustments, to approximately R $ 240,000, according to the MPF. According to the prosecutors, the companies still had independent parallel systems.

The prosecution said that from 2011, under the government of Beto Richa (PSDB), the tips were addressed to politicians and public officials of the DER and the Regulatory Agency Paraná (Agepar) – agency responsible for state concessions. Beneficiaries included Beto and Pepe Richa and Nelson Leal Júnior.

According to prosecutors, the bribe has always been paid in cash. The dealers handed over the amounts to João Chiminazzo Neto, then president of ABCR, who transferred them to a financial operator responsible for distributing them to the beneficiaries.

In the case of Beto Richa, the indictment indicates that he received $ 2.5 million in cash, which was used for the purchase of real estate by a company on behalf of his wife and one of the sons of the former governor.

According to the MPF, this practice has existed for 20 years in the state. According to Attorney General Diogo Castor de Mattos, the crimes prescribed for public managers before Richa.

"On the criminal side, we have an order, the time is short and if the person is over 70 years old, the time is already half," he said.