The news regarding the content of the investigations caused a division in the (Superior Court of Justice). The mentions generated complaints about the investigative body and also the (Supreme Federal Court), where the investigations are taking place.
The launch of the first phase of the complete operation, and the investigations to be completed. The expectation is that new investigation fronts will still be opened.
Although Sisamnes deals with suspicions that occurred in STJ offices, so far only civil servants are investigated, in addition to other people suspected of being part of the scheme, such as lawyers and lobbyists.
One wing of the court believes that the Supreme Court should deepen investigations and eliminate any possibility of irregularities committed by ministers, before referring the case to other courts.
In a private manner, another part of the court questions the need for the investigations to continue in the STF, with a report from the minister, even if none of the 33 members of the STJ are investigated.
The main complaints began to appear due to citations in PF documents about ministers’ decisions. STJ ministers complain that the police have, as a result, left suspicions on them without evidence of their involvement in any type of crime.
This wing gets angry when information about confidential investigations reaches the press.
The investigation continues at the Supreme Court, responsible for supervising investigations involving members of the STJ and other authorities with special jurisdiction, for three reasons, according to a PF report.
The first is to prevent measures considered sensitive, including on the premises of the STJ itself, from being annulled. Another reason is to protect the investigation against external interference. The third is to preserve the possibility that new evidence may involve authorities with jurisdiction in the STF — such as the ministers themselves.
When contacted by his advisor and asked if he would like to comment on the complaints, minister Cristiano Zanin did not respond. The Federal Police, in turn, stated that it does not comment on ongoing investigations.
The investigations were sent to the STF last year because a report from Coaf (Financial Activities Control Council) mentioned a financial operation related to an authority with jurisdiction in the court.
In addition to ministers of the STJ, members of the Supreme Court themselves have jurisdiction in the STF, as well as federal parliamentarians, ministers of state, the TCU (Federal Audit Court) and the President of the Republic.
However, the investigations did not advance any suspicions in this regard and began to focus on advisors, lawyers and lobbyists who work around the courts.
Sisamnes’ main line of investigation is based on suspicions that it had early access to minutes of votes and decisions from the STJ. He is accused of using this information to extort people involved in legal disputes and simulate influence in higher courts.
Furthermore, it is suspected that there were leaks of police operations against authorities by members of the court’s offices and also the (Attorney General’s Office).
People who follow the STJ say that the court has difficulty even obtaining information that supports administrative investigations for the dismissal of employees involved in the scandal.
On September 1st, the STJ carried out the first dismissal of a civil servant suspected of involvement in a decision-selling scheme.
The person fired is judicial technician Márcio José Toledo Pinto, who worked in several court offices. He was the target of an internal investigation by the STJ, opened after the revelation of relationships between court employees and Andreson.
The investigations reported by Zanin involve different suspicions in various courts, such as the Court of Justice of Mato Grosso do Sul and Tocantins, in addition to the STJ itself.
Only part of the investigations, which involve suspicions regarding the Mato Grosso Court of Justice, were sent back to the STJ, and are being reported by Minister Nancy Andrighi.
Recently, Federal Police operations related to Sisamnes went beyond the normal level of secrecy, and there was no subsequent disclosure that they existed.
One of them involved the search and seizure of a server belonging to the Attorney General’s Office, .
The other, which took place on the 3rd, was a search and seizure at Andreson’s house, in Primavera do Leste (MT), where he is under house arrest using an electronic ankle bracelet.
The suspicion is that the lobbyist was reiterating criminal activities.
Furthermore, there were changes in the PF. The delegate who was in charge of the investigations, Marco Bontempo, alleging personal reasons. He informed his bosses in September that he would no longer be in charge of the operation.
When Sisamnes was launched last year, police said they suspected that targets “requested amounts to benefit parties in legal proceedings, through decisions favorable to their interests.”
