The Public Ministry of Rio (MP-RJ) denounced former mayor Marcelo Crivella (Republicans) and ten other people for administrative improbity in the case known as “HQ of Bribes”. In the action, prosecutors ask for the conviction and return of R$32 million to the public coffers of Rio’s city hall. Crivella denies the accusations.
According to Globonews, the complaint was made in December, but has not yet been analyzed by the Rio de Janeiro justice system. The investigations indicate that the scheme involved fraud in tenders from the city of Rio and the use of shell companies, cold invoices and fictitious contracts to divert resources: “such corruption scheme was executed in a planned, conscious and coordinated manner”, says an excerpt from the complaint.
The scheme would be coordinated by Crivella and businessman Rafael Alves, who had great influence on the former mayor’s management. The focus of the investigation was the R$789 million contract signed between Previ-Rio — a pension institute for municipal employees — and the Assim Saúde group. In the investigation, the MP-RJ concluded that the bidding was illegally directed with the notice being drawn up to benefit the winning company.
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In the indictment, the prosecutors state that the payment of a bribe corresponding to 3% of the global value that would be received by Assim Saúde in contracts with the municipality of Rio was agreed. The MP-RJ also states that Marcelo Crivella was fully aware of the acts carried out by his subordinates and had final and functional control of the facts.
After winning the bid, the Assim Saúde group would have signed contracts with shell companies indicated by the gang members to pay for services never provided, thus diverting public resources. Cold invoices were issued to mask the payment of bribes.
According to the MP, the group would have received R$32 million in bribes, an amount that prosecutors ask to be returned to public coffers.
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Marcelo Crivella, now a federal deputy, and Rafael Alves were arrested at the end of 2020, accused of creating the “Bribery HQ” in the office of the then mayor of Rio. In the Electoral Court, another case is underway against the deputy over the case.
Rafael Alves was not located. Grupo Assim Saúde chose not to comment. In a statement, Crivella denied the accusations, said he had not yet been heard in the investigation and that the contracting of the health plan “was conducted by Previ-Rio, with the approval of the General Comptroller’s Office, the Municipal Attorney General’s Office and the Court of Auditors.”
