PCC members bribed SP city hall officials to change the text of notices and win bids, says MP | National Newspaper

PCC members bribed SP city hall officials to change the text of notices and win bids, says MP

The Public Ministry of São Paulo discovered that the PCC paid bribes to city officials in São Paulo and they even wrote notices so that the criminals could win bids.

Prosecutors found a document on the cell phone of one of those investigated linked to the PCC: it is the preparation of a notice to hire a company specialized in the supply and management of labor to provide services in schools and daycare centers in the city hall of Ferraz de Vasconcelos, in Greater São Paulo.

But, according to the Public Ministry, some rules went against the interests of criminals. They then demanded the removal of some items and they also asked that a spreadsheet favorable to the group be included in the notice.

In a text message, about a tender for the city council of Mogi das Cruzes, also in Greater São Paulo, the suspect makes it clear that the objective was to manipulate the notices:

“If we don’t have the opportunity to write the notice, we will never win.”

Prosecutors claim that the bid fraud scheme involved 18 cities in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, Baixada Santista and the interior. The contracts signed in recent years total more than R$200 million.

Businessman Vagner Borges Dias, who is on the run, is named as the leader of this criminal scheme. Prosecutors claim that he managed several companies, in the name of oranges, that simulated a competition to win million-dollar contracts with the public authorities.

When analyzing the corporate structure of companies linked to Vagner, the prosecutors discovered the names of PCC members, among them, Márcio Zeca da Silva.

The Operation Munditia complaint also contains the names of public officials from city halls who received bribes to favor Vagner’s companies. Everyone is being investigated.

In one of the text messages obtained by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, an employee at the city hall of Cubatão, on the coast of São Paulo, asks the businessman for money:

Wagner responds: “Send the PIX”. Prosecutors claim that the two were talking about paying bribes.

The city of Cubatão said it dismissed the employee and has collaborated with the Public Ministry.

The Ferraz de Vasconcelos administration stated that it is cooperating with the investigations.

The city of Mogi das Cruzes said that it adopts strict criteria in its administrative acts and is available to provide clarifications.

Vagner Borges Dias’ lawyers stated that their client is innocent and that they appealed the request for temporary arrest.