The revelation of one at the State Secretariat of Finance of, which may have moved $ 1 billion in bribes, gave new ammunition to the opposition of (Republicans) and pressured the government to respond to the crisis.
Tarcisio did not comment on the subject and, since the operation was launched, on Tuesday (12), did not undergo any press conference in which he could be asked about the matter.
The governor tries to distance himself from the criticism received last month for his initial reaction to the tariff imposed by Donald Trump, when he tried to intermediate a negotiation between Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and the Supreme Court (STF) and was slow to condemn the economic impacts of Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the former president.
The volume of bribes calculated by the investigators is the largest of his government and the case involves at least one server with head, the supervisor of the Secretariat of the Secretariat, Artur Gomes da Silva Neto. When he assumed, Tarcisio restructured the State Comptroller General (GCE) and had launched a program called “Radar Anti-Corruption” to prevent deviations.
Although MP-SP (Public Prosecution Service of São Paulo) has no evidence that Tarcísio management agents have assisted tax auditors suspected of operating the illegal scheme of credits, tax for entrepreneurs such as Ultrafarma, the government will have to assist the investigators of the case so that the calculation of damage to public coffers is executed.
The Secretary of Finance, Samuel Kinoshita, was at MP-SP headquarters on the day of the operation.
According to reports collected by the report, he was impressed by the values moved by the group and reminded the prosecutors of the case that is not in the tax area – Kinoshita is an economist and master in statistics.
The prosecutors of the case now observe the government’s behavior, according to the report, because they need an active participation of Tarcisio management for the progress of investigations.
The scheme discovered by MP-SP had two front fronts. In the first, the servers suspected of corruption would act to accelerate the issuance of tax credits to which companies were entitled to – and, in this front, there was no harm to the public coffers.
In the second, the calculation of tax credits due was fraudulent, according to the investigation. Tax auditors had values above the correct numbers. However, the MP-SP does not have instruments or a technical staff to calculate the actual values. This is the work that Tarcisio management will have to do to collaborate with the elucidation of the case.
In addition to reporting to prosecutors, the government will have to deal with the attempted PT and PSOL countertops, of opposition, to create consequences for the scandal at Alesp (Legislative Assembly of São Paulo). Both parties charge from the Secretariat of Finance and Kinoshita himself information about the scheme and measures to prevent and combat corruption.
Already this Tuesday, the day of the operation, Deputy Carlos Giannazi (PSOL) requested, by means of a letter, the termination of the subway Naming Right contract with the Saúde-Ultrafarma station, on line 1-Azul.
“It is evident that a company with such a history of damage to the public purse cannot continue to benefit from a public service, such as the subway, for advertising and brand dissemination,” Giannazi said in the text, which is addressed to Tarcisio.
Giannazi also requested the summons of Kinoshita, by the Finance Commission, to provide more details about which companies to evade the tax authorities. Paulo Fiorilo (PT) sent an information request for the secretary to respond if he was aware of the irregularities and what measures the portfolio will adopt to try to curb new practices.
Deputy Ediane Maria (PSOL) sent a letter to MP-SP, on Wednesday (13), asking the agency to find out if there was any kind of irregularity in the process of acquiring the naming Rights of the subway station by Ultrafarma.
The movement of the opposition adds to the criticism that deputies of the base were already doing the performance of Kinoshita. In July, Bolsonarist Deputy Lucas Bove (PL) complained in the plenary that the secretary did not receive him, even answered him, to ask questions about government projects at the home.
However, for the Tarcisio government leader at Alesp, Deputy Gilmaci Santos (Republicans), the pressure of opposition deputies will hardly be reversed to some extent against the government.
“I do not see how this can reach the government, the governor or the secretaries. It is an isolated thing that has no way to hit them. We are very quiet about it. It is a way of opposition diverting the focus of Brasilia, from the case of the INSS,” said Gilmaci.
Governor’s allies understand that the scheme began in 2021, two years before Tarcisio took office, and that there is no evidence of his participation or his confidence in the scheme, as in the case of Kinoshita.
In addition, the size of the benches is not seen with the potential to lock any project or approve measures against Tarcisio, as together, PT and PSOL add up to 23 chairs in a legislative house of 94 deputies.
In addition to arresting Sidney Oliveira, Operation Icarus resulted in the arrest of the statutory director of the Fast Shop group, Mario Otávio Gomes; of the Supervisor of the Secretariat of the Secretariat of the Secretariat, Artur Gomes da Silva Neto; and the tax auditor Marcelo de Almeida Gouveia.
The Secretariat of Finance reported that it is available to collaborate with the investigation, through its tax inspection corregedoria, and has instituted administrative procedure to investigate the conduct of the auditor involved.
Tarcisio, however, did not participate in interviews or granted collectives in recent days to allow him to question the scandal. His agendas included participation in a BTG Pactual seminar, which he did, and a dinner with entrepreneurs at the Latin singer’s house on Wednesday (13).
“How much honor can receive our (perhaps) future president and current governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas,” Latino wrote on Instagram.
The singer gave the song “Me Leva”, one of his biggest hits, to serve as the basis for the main jingle of Tarcisio’s campaign to the state government in 2022.
Present at the meeting, businessman Flávio Rocha, owner of Riachuelo, thanked Latino on the social network “for the opportunity to be with our future president.”