In a nod to MP-SP (Public Prosecution Service), the governor (Republicans) signed a decree last Tuesday (10) that passes 30% of funds raised in shares against money laundering in the state to the institution’s special fund.
These funds have so far been allocated to Subcounts of the Diffuse Interest Fund (FID) of the Secretariat of Justice, and were passed on to the Public Security Secretariat to invest in the acquisition of equipment and infrastructure for the police.
In the Special Fund of MP-SP, the money will be used to “ensure resources for the expansion and improvement of the institution’s activities”, according to the law that created it in 1999.
Neither the State Government nor the MP-SP reported what is the forecast of resources that will go to the institution. Last year, the Secretariat of Public Security published a balance show that, in four years, police recovered $ 14 billion from organized crime.
In a video released on the MP-SP channel on YouTube, the Attorney General, Paulo Sérgio de Oliveira and Costa, said the change is “a huge news to our institution”, which motivated him to record the thanks.
“I mean that this measure is a great act of recognition to the work of our institution and this work is done by everyone, indistinctly,” he said. He stated that the money will aim “to improve our performance with more technology, training and human resources to detect and dismantle money laundering schemes.”
Cash reinforcement occurs at a time of strong growth of MP-SP expenses with penduricals, payments above the constitutional ceiling to judiciary servants.
In January, according to Sheet Published, Oliveira and Costa recognized to receive to 1,900 prosecutors and prosecutors from São Paulo, referring to the equivalent of one week of extra salary per month, in a period from January 2015 to August 2023.
The administrative decision acknowledged that prosecutors had an excessive load of work and were entitled to payments in the form of compensation. At the end of May, the CNJ (National Council of Justice).
When it authorized the payment of the hangers, the MP-SP stated that the transfers would be made in installments, according to the cash availability of the institution. Compared to last year, the average remuneration of members of the institution has risen 27%, according to data from the Transparency Portal.
Cash reinforcement took place at an event at the Bandeirantes Palace with Tarcisio, the Secretary of Public Security, the President of Alesp (Legislative Assembly), André do Prado (PL), de Oliveira and Costa, four deputy attorneys and other MP-SP leaders. The institution has the function of overseeing the other public agents present.
“São Paulo is a different state, where institutions talk and build solutions. The state is an example for Brazil in terms of harmony between the powers, who think together in the good of the citizen,” said Tarcisio at the meeting, according to a statement published by MP-SP-the press was not invited to the event.
The justification for allocating to the Special Fund of MP-SP part of the funds obtained in combating money laundering is to increase the institution’s ability to face these offenses, according to the government.
Although the use of the fund to directly pay the hangers is prohibited by law, the measure creates cash clearance to the institution, which has budgetary autonomy.
“This is a public policy aimed at the financial weakening of criminal organizations and the most effective destination of assets recovered by the state,” the Secretariat of Public Security said in a statement, justifying the measure.
Experts, however, criticize the strengthening of the fund without shares that bring more transparency in their expenses-the page for the provision of these accounts on the MP-SP website does not bring details that justify the looting of public resources of the account, when they occur.
“The MP-SP Special Expense Fund has relevant weaknesses of transparency and external control, as its administration, guidelines and application plans are unilaterally defined by the body itself,” says Rafael Rodrigues Viegas, professor at FGV and researcher at INCT Qualigov and ENAP (National School of Public Administration).
“The breadth of revenues, including private donations, sale of services and fines, added to low advertising on allocation criteria, opens margin for uses focused on corporate interests, without adequate accountability to society,” he adds.
Viegas also makes caveats to the way the measure was disclosed. “The prominent presence of MP-SP authorities at the event indicates a cooperation relationship that can compromise the perception of autonomy of the agency, especially by associating its action with a specific government policy, such as the recovery of assets, with direct financial counterparts for the institution itself.”
