A went looking for former parliamentarians who left their mandates with debts. The debts range from funds received unduly to loss of notebooks and furniture and non-payment of water and electricity bills for functional apartments.
In the current legislature, the House has already published at least ten notifications in the Official Gazette of the Union to record debts, justifying that it adopted this method because these former deputies are “currently in an uncertain and unknown location”.
Some of them complain precisely about not having been officially contacted. Some claim to have paid off the debt and there are also those who follow the popular logic of “I owe it, I don’t deny it, I pay it when I can”.
Federal deputies currently have a salary of R$44,000 per month, the maximum provided for by the Constitution for public service. They also have a quota to pay for air tickets, car supplies and office maintenance in the locations where they are based.
They can also occupy a functional apartment in Brasília or receive housing assistance.
Former federal deputy Nelho Bezerra (União Brasil-CE) was the recent target of two notifications published in the Official Gazette of the Union, one in June and another at the end of October this year.
The Chamber charges him R$ 3,208.15 referring to “debts for the return of amounts received unduly”, due to his removal as deputy deputy, still in July 2022.
“I intend to pay, yes. I just can’t at the moment. Thank you for your attention and merry Christmas”, he replied to Sheet when asked about debts.
When asked why he couldn’t make the payment, he said: “No money at the moment.”
Nelho Bezerra took over as substitute in 2022. He gained prominence for his speeches extolling loyalty to the former president (PL). In plenary, he even asked the then president to consider him as a son.
“So, my president, you have F4, the four children by blood. And you have the [deputado] André Fernandes, from my Iguatu [CE]the fifth, by adoption. And here with my littleness, my president, I humbly ask you: let me be your F6”, he stated in the House’s gallery.
Most of the debts collected from former deputies refer to unpaid bills in the functional apartments they occupied during their mandates, such as water, electricity and other fees. This is the case of former deputy Jones Moura, who has a debt of R$1,876.71 to Parliament.
In addition to the debts for consumption accounts in the functional property he occupied, the notification from the Chamber of Deputies also mentions an amount received unduly due to his removal as a substitute, in January of this year.
The former deputy complains that he did not receive any official notification and found out about the debts through the contact of the Sheet. He said that he would find out about the pending issues to “pay it quickly” and added that the amount “is a small amount”.
“However, I emphasize that I am on my fourth substitute for the PSD and, due to the rotation of the secretaries of the municipal government of Rio de Janeiro, from time to time, I am returning to the mandate”, he stated.
“If I return, which could happen soon, if there are pending issues, they will deduct from my salaries. If not, I will be paying remotely”, he declared.
He said that, as soon as he officially becomes aware and verifies the “veracity of the calculations made”, he will make the payment “as soon as possible”.
Former deputy Aline Gurgel (Republicanos-AP) also points out that she was not informed by the Chamber so that she could become aware of the debts. His debt would be R$3,535.85, referring to bills for the functional property he occupied.
She sent it to Sheet proof of the bank transaction to the Chamber of Deputies, in the amount of its debts, on November 4th — just over ten days after the publication of the debt in the Official Gazette of the Union.
in the last municipal elections. She finished in third place, with 3.71% of the vote. The election was won in the first round by Doctor Furlan (MDB).
In addition to the debts left in the functional apartment, former deputy Nilson Pinto de Oliveira (PSDB-PA) is also accused of not having returned a notebook to the Chamber. It is charged at R$2,217.44.
Oliveira claims to be unaware of these pending issues. He says that he ended his sixth and final term in January 2023 and that all expenses for the functional apartment were “automatically and religiously deducted from my salary, each month, by the Chamber itself”.
“I am also unaware of the supposed pending issue regarding the aforementioned notebook. I inform you that I never received any notification from the Chamber regarding these matters”, he stated.
He adds that he contacted the Chamber requesting clarification, which they promised to send by email, “which, in fact, was always known to them”.
Former Paraná deputy Delegado Francischini, who belonged to parties such as PSDB and PSL, had been charged R$ 5,009.26 at the end of the last legislature, referring to “debts for loss of goods”. He claims to have paid “that debt a long time ago.” He added that he thought it was “some furniture that was not found in a change of cabinet and party leadership”.
The Chamber of Deputies was contacted but refused to inform the total number of former deputies who have outstanding debts, the full amount and which have already paid off their debts. The House presided over by (PP-AL) suggested opening a process to obtain this information through the Access to Information Law.
