Payments in a total of R $ 308 million to Oi made by the government of being investigated by with the objective of ascertaining whether part of the funds were intended for people linked to the governor ().
In a decision on Tuesday (20), the State Court also charged the company’s explanation of the regularity of the allocation of a portion of these resources.
The ones from a legal dispute started in 2009 and seek to compensate the company for amounts charged by the state by a differential of the ICMS tax rate
The funds were pledged in 2010. By 2020, the (Supreme Court) declared the collection unconstitutional, and Oi filed a lawsuit asking for the money back.
The compensation began to be done last year. As the company is in judicial recovery, it has given the credits to two funds of investment in credit rights. The negotiation was made possible with authorization from the State Attorney General.
The suspicions arose because the manager of these funds, according to documents sent to investigation bodies, also generates funds that invest in companies in the governor’s family.
Questioned by Sheetthe Government of Mato Grosso said that there is no illegality in payments to Oi and did not comment on the suspicions raised by the Public Prosecution Service of possible destination of funds to investment funds linked to state and family agents of Mauro Mendes.
Last Friday (16), the prosecutor of Mato Grosso opened a preliminary investigation on the case. The agency states that it investigates alleged irregularities in an agreement signed in April last year between the government of Mato Grosso and Oi, which resulted in the refund to the company of R $ 308 million.
“The calculation covers not only the return of values, but also the possible allocation of resources to investment funds with any ties to state public agents and their families,” he says.
The measures were communicated to the Attorney General’s Office, as it may involve state authorities.
To date, only initial steps have been taken by the Public Prosecution Service, with request for information from those involved in the reimbursement process.
In a decision on Tuesday, in which he maintained a blockade of amounts related to the compensation of Oi, Judge Yale Sabo Mendes demanded from Oi information regarding the authorization for the assignment of credits to the recipients.
He also sent Oi’s judicial recovery court in Rio de Janeiro a letter presented by state deputy Janaina Riva (MDB), in which she points out suspicions about the fate of resources.
In the decision, the judge says that the suspicions reinforce “the need for caution in the release of blocked values” and impose “the adoption of measures that protect the public interest and the legality of acts performed”.
The document signed by the deputy points out the importance of ascertaining whether there was contrary to the principles of transparency, morality and impersonality in the operation.
According to the parliamentarian, the nature of the agreement signed by the State Attorney General’s Office and the allocation of funds “suggest potential conflict of interest and possible deviation of purpose in public resources management”.
The government of Mato Grosso states, in a statement, that the amount charged by Oi “improperly”, would be $ 690 million.
“In a homologated judicial agreement, made in 2024, the amount was R $ 308 million, divided into installments, being the agreement approved by the Court,” the statement says.
According to the government, the judge’s decision is related to a portion of R $ 8 million from the balance, and the magistrate “requests from Oi to the case of proof of the assignment of the credit, and at no time questions the legality of the approved agreement.”
“Thus, there is no illegality made by the State. Quite the contrary, the Attorney General’s Office acted efficiently and brought savings to the public coffers in the amount of R $ 392 million.”
Also sought after, Oi stated that in 2023, gave credit rights to a law firm, and received $ 80 million for them, “who were deposited in Escrow account [garantia] until the fulfillment of certain preceding contractual conditions “.
On April 18, 2024, according to the company, “upon compliance with such conditions, Oi S/A requested the release of the Escrow account resources for its free movement account.” At the time, says the note, the updated value was R $ 82.3 million.
“All of these movements were accounted for in standardized financial statements and quarterly information, reports audited by external audit,” the company says.
