The São Paulo government removed the director of the State Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic), Fábio Pinheiro Lopes after the police officer was cited in the accusation against businessman Antônio Vinicius Gritzbach, involved in money laundering schemes by the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) . In testimony in September, Gritzbach, murdered in early November, said he passed money to his lawyer to bribe the police chief and other authorities.
Pinheiro Lopes, known as Fábio Caipira, called the dismissal “injustice”. He was at the head of Deic when Gritzbach was being investigated for the murder of Anselmo Santa Fausta, aka Cara Preta, one of the PCC leaders. The delegate states that the investigation into Gritzbach was carried out “in the strictest legality” and says that he “never obtained any advantage”.
The measure, according to the Public Security Secretariat, was taken to “guarantee exemption from investigations”. In addition to Lopes, delegate Murilo Fonseca Roque, currently working in São Bernardo do Campo, metropolitan region, was removed. According to Gritzbach’s testimony, Roque would also be one of the recipients of bribes paid by the whistleblower when he was head of the 24th Police District (Ponte Rasa), at the beginning of 2022. The police officer’s defense was not located.
Gritzbach’s statement also mentions state deputy Delegado Olim (PP). He would have participated, alongside Lopes Pinheiro and Roque, in a meeting with the businessman’s lawyer, according to the statement. The defender, Ramsés Gonçalves, allegedly charged R$5 million from the whistleblower, R$800,000 of which was for fees and the remainder (R$4.2 million) supposedly to pay bribes. Olim denies the accusations and says he never had close or immediate contact with the whistleblower.
“I only met with this lawyer once, for a few minutes, on April 29, 2022”, stated Pinheiro Lopes at a press conference held this Friday, 2, in the central region of São Paulo. “He came to my office asking about the case (of Gritzbach) and I forwarded him to the responsible police officer,” he said. “I don’t get a lawyer for a criminal.”
Lopes said that he has not yet been formally informed about his removal from office and received the news through the press. The director is on vacation and was only invited for a conversation upon his return in January. “I also don’t know if I want to stay on the front line anymore,” he said. “It’s not worth it: seeing my children crying over an injustice like this.”
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In a note sent earlier to the report, the delegate stated that, during the investigations into Cara Preta’s murder, Gritzbach was indicted, and his arrest was ordered and his assets, including properties, a helicopter and two boats, were blocked. .
“His passport remains seized at Deic to this day. Furthermore, the two apartments that this criminal claimed were used to pay bribes are in the name of the lawyer Ramsés himself and his daughter. His (Gritzbach) statement is, therefore, completely contradicted by the facts,” he stated.
In his statement, Gritzbach said that lawyer Ramsés Gonçalves began representing him at the beginning of 2022. At the time, according to the statement, the lawyer said that he had held a meeting with deputy Olim and delegates Murilo Roque and Fábio Lopes. The lawyer allegedly charged R$5 million from the whistleblower: R$800,000 for fees and the remainder (R$4.2 million) supposedly to pay bribes.
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The whistleblower stated that, as a form of payment, he would have given two apartments and “several checks”. He would still have handed over a sum in cash (amount not specified) and made a transfer of R$300,000. It is not clear whether the entire amount has been paid.
“Either Gritzbach deliberately failed to tell the truth to obtain advantages in his plea agreement, or he was deceived by lawyer Ramsés, who, in fact, has several records for the crime of embezzlement,” said Pinheiro Lopes.
Lawyer Ramsés Gonçalves refuted the accusations. “I never contributed directly or indirectly to corrupting public officials, nor did I use influence to do so,” he stated, in a statement. He also said “he did not discuss the investigation of Mr. Vinicius at any time with the public agents mentioned in the complaint”.
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Still according to the defender, Gritzbach “sought to misuse the serious institute of the award-winning contribution to divert the focus of the investigations that hung over him, as well as to promote himself financially, since with it he had all his assets unlocked and started to have a life normal, even if I confess to committing the most diverse crimes.”
Delegate requests dismissal from Internal Affairs
In addition to the removal of Pinheiro Lopes and Roque, delegate Rosemeire Monteiro de Francisco Ibanez requested the dismissal of the Civil Police Internal Affairs Department and made herself available to the institution to continue in another sector. The change should take effect next week, according to the Public Security Secretariat.
As shown by Estadão, she is the aunt of Eduardo Lopes Monteiro, one of the three investigators arrested this week by Operation Tacitus, an incursion carried out by the Federal Police in partnership with the Public Ministry of São Paulo. The action was the result of the intersection of several investigations into the PCC and a consequence of Gritzbach’s accusation.
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Among those arrested, in addition to Monteiro, are police chief Fábio Baena and investigators Marcelo Ruggieri and Marcelo Bombom. Police officer Rogério de Almeida Felício, also a target, is on the run. In addition to them, the operation also arrested four people identified as mainly responsible for the faction’s money laundering.
