The Federal Police carried out 18 search and seizure warrants this Thursday (25), against a criminal organization suspected of embezzling more than R$670,000 in public resources from the Municipal Health Department of Vitória da Conquista, in southwestern Bahia.
No one was arrested in the police operation carried out in Vitória da Conquista and in the cities of Belo Horizonte and Nova Lima in Minas Gerais.
As detailed by the PF, the criminal organization would have operated during the Covid-19 pandemic, through overpricing in bidding processes for the acquisition of tests.
g1 contacted the Vitória da Conquista city council, which informed in a note that it collaborates with the Federal Police investigations in relation to the Dropout operation.
According to the note, the city council’s office said that Mayor Sheila Lemos (União Brasil) assured “that she will spare no effort to meet any and all requests from the PF so that the case can be clarified as quickly as possible.” [Confira nota na íntegra ao final da matéria]
In addition to the search and seizure warrants, nine warrants for precautionary measures other than arrest were served – when the rights of the person being investigated are restricted, but he remains free. Furthermore, R$2 million was blocked from the accounts and assets of the main people under investigation, whose names were not disclosed.
According to the Federal Police, the complaint was filed by the Vitória da Conquista prosecutor’s office in 2022 and investigations revealed two bidding processes with signs of fraud. Together, they reached R$2,030,000, with proof of price overpricing and losses of at least R$677,900.
Understand how the process worked:
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