Commanded by a soldier trusted by the governor (Republicans), the DER (Department of Highways) has been expanding the hiring of companies without bidding to provide services to users of São Paulo’s roads.
In two years, retired Army colonel Sergio Codelo, superintendent of the organization, signed 16 contracts with outsourced companies, totaling R$401 million, all without bidding, for the operation of the Basic Service Units (UBAs) on the highways.
Until the previous administration, these services were contracted through bidding.
UBAs provide support services to drivers, such as rescue with tow trucks, on non-privatized highways. DER does not have servers for the function.
The contracts are with 15 companies, organized into consortia, so that they operate on more than one road section. Some of the contractors have a history of investigations for irregularities.
The colonel was regional superintendent of Dnit (National Department of Transport Infrastructure) from 2019 to 2023, in the government of (), while Tarcísio was Minister of Infrastructure. The governor commanded the Dnit between 2014 and 2015, during the government of ().
Although he is one of the five members of the Army that Tarcísio brought to the São Paulo government, in a practice similar to that of the Bolsonaro government, Codelo claims that he only met the governor at Dnit, during paving works on the BR-163, which connects Mato Grosso to Pará. He was appointed to the body at the invitation of another military officer, General Antonio Leite dos Santos Filho, director at the time.
In 2022, the DER was a body considered sensitive by Tarcísio’s team. Works without bidding by the Rodrigo Garcia administration (former PSDB, now without a party) were in the sights of the Public Ministry due to suspected targeting. Codelo was appointed to guarantee the fairness of the body, according to Tarcísio’s allies at the time.
Between 2021 and 2022, DER had signed 110 contracts without bidding, totaling R$516 million, of which 100 were for the execution of emergency works. Between 2023 and 2024, Codelo reduced the value of emergency works to R$283 million.
On the other hand, in total, including service provision contracts, his management increased expenses with direct hiring to R$907 million, around 75% more, thanks mainly to UBA contracts.
Some of the companies that had been hired without bidding to carry out works in the previous administration have now been rehired to provide the service.
This is the case of Planservi Engenharia, a company that obtained six contracts to operate UBAs, for R$40.6 million. The company made irregular payments to contractors for highway works.
Engespro, which totals R$12 million in contracts, was the target of the Public Ministry in Operation Estrada, in 2018, which resulted in the conviction of three DER inspectors for fraud. Ensin, a road signage company, which has R$26.5 million in contracts, has business partners as owners of CDL, formerly Consladel, cited in investigations into alleged deviations in tenders in Amazonas and Minas Gerais.
Codelo received the Sheet in his office, to discuss the contracts, last Monday (10). He said he launched two tenders for the service, but chose to revoke both after questions from the TCE (State Audit Court) in São Paulo.
The questions were motivated by the discovery of bureaucratic flaws, according to Codelo, pointed out by companies interested in the dispute, according to information from the TCE.
In a note, DER informed that in the first suspended tender, in March last year, the TCE pointed out “a practice contrary to competition”. The second suspension took place in October this year, after the concession of three highways to the private sector, which changed the scope of the contracts.
Codelo said he made emergency contracts so as not to interrupt the service. “Is it the best of all worlds? No. Do I feel comfortable having my CPF in this? No,” he stated. “I can’t sleep easy with this, but I can’t escape the responsibility of maintaining the service for the population.”
Regarding contracted companies, Codelo highlights that emergency contracts also have rules and price quotes and that he cannot prevent signing a contract with the company with the cheapest proposal.
“There are companies that discover that there is an emergency and send a proposal,” he said. “I can’t put my will [e excluir um participante]because then everyone will lose trust in me. I have to stay exempt.”
Planservi was approached for comment on the case, but did not respond. Ensin informed in a statement that, although its partners are the same as CDL, the companies are distinct and that it “bases its activities on ethical values, ensuring good faith, transparency and responsibility”. The company highlighted that the investigations in which CDL was involved ended up being archived.
Engespro informed, in a note, that it was already contracted by DER and that, when the agreement ended, it signed an emergency contract. The company says that its partners and employees “have never appeared as defendants in criminal proceedings”.
