The Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) began this Tuesday, 11th, the trial of Henrique Constantino, from the founding family of Gol, in a process that found misuse of power as a member of the airline’s board of directors. Reporting director Mariana Copola voted to condemn Constantino to disqualification, for five years, from exercising activity as an administrator or fiscal councilor of a publicly-held company. The trial was suspended following a request from director João Accioly.
The case under trial was initiated after another, initiated after the release of news, in October 2016, about signs that the Constantino family, Gol’s controller, had paid bribes to the “deputy EC”, according to Copola’s report. News at the time cited deputy Eduardo Cunha in a corruption case related to the Constantino family.
According to the CVM technical area, payments totaling R$4.9 million were made. The bribes would be linked to the release of a R$300 million loan from FI-FGTS, administered by Caixa, for the benefit of ViaRondon Concessionária de Rodovia, a company linked to Constantino. Other intended advantages were the extension of the alternative payroll tax regime to the transport sector; and the reduction of the ICMS rate on aviation fuels in the Federal District, according to the report.
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The bribes would have been paid through Gol and other companies under its control, through transfers to companies linked to the parliamentarian, disguised as compensation for the provision of services, according to the report.
The defense argued that certain documents used in the prosecution were invalid, such as the report on the case carried out by an independent firm and presented by Gol to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is because it was prepared by a foreign office and because it is in English, without a sworn translation.
“The document only presents facts, without formulating a legal judgment restricting it to pointing out strange payments,” said Marina Copola, rejecting the arguments.
According to the defense, Constantino would not have the power to decide in isolation on the transactions investigated. He would have simply “forwarded the presentation sent by the contractors to the area responsible for analysis within the Company, with a view to ascertaining interest in contracting”, so that there would have been “no contracting order, nor price stipulation on the part of the accused”.
In December 2021, Henrique Constantino presented a proposal for a term of commitment, which was counter-proposed by the Term of Commitment Committee (CTC), with which the accused partially agreed. The CTC, however, did not accept the defendant’s new proposal.
In her vote, director Marina Copola emphasized that the executive used his influence to make payments to companies related to public entities with the aim of obtaining undue advantage, remembering that the legislation does not require the agent to have formal administrator power to consider the misuse of power. Power can be exercised informally.
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“He made use of Gol’s structure to serve personal and third-party interests,” said Copola, stressing that the executive combined the position of member of the Board of Directors with that of member of the company’s founding family.
When contacted, Gol declined to comment. Constantino could not be reached for comment. Defense lawyers did not respond to attempts to contact them.
