The PGR (Attorney General’s Office) requested that the case against the former Minister of the Civil House regarding respirators for Covid-19 be sent to the (Supreme Federal Court). The case was being processed at the (Superior Court of Justice), responsible for judging governors.
The action deals with the purchase of 300 lung ventilators during the Covid-19 pandemic. The equipment cost R$48.7 million to public coffers.
The deputy attorney general of the Republic, Luiza Frischeisen, cites in the piece the court’s own understanding that, in cases of successive mandates, the highest jurisdiction prevails — in the case of government ministers, this is the STF.
The inquiry went from the Supreme Court to the STJ last August, as determined by Flávio Dino, to whom the case is now returned.
Dino stated, in the decision, that the case falls under the jurisdiction of the STJ because the alleged acts carried out by the person being investigated would have occurred when he was head of the Executive of Bahia, and not a minister of State.
The purchase was made in 2020, at the height of the spread of the virus. At the time, Rui Costa was governor of Bahia and presided over the Northeast Consortium, which brought together the states in the region and was responsible for acquiring the equipment.
The company Hempcare, specializing in marijuana-based medicines, sold the respirators to the consortium and received payment in advance. But he didn’t honor the contract.
The Federal Police carried out an operation on the case in 2024. According to the PF, the operation aimed to “recover resources diverted in the acquisition” of the equipment. “The crimes investigated include bidding crimes, embezzlement of public resources, money laundering and criminal organization,” the corporation said in a statement at the time.
A Sheet This Friday afternoon he sought out the former minister, who is expected to run for the Senate, and is awaiting a position on the PGR’s request. He previously stated that he was a victim of dishonest people: “We were robbed in a moment of desperation to get respirators,” he declared in December 2021.
In January 2025, the TCU (Federal Audit Court) removed Rui Costa’s responsibility in the case. The case against Costa and Carlos Eduardo Gabas, then executive secretary of the Consortium, was dismissed by 5 votes to 2.
The TCU ordered, in turn, a special accounting against Hempcare to recover the damages caused to the public treasury.
TCU minister Jorge Oliveira, who reported the process, considered in his vote that the advance payment was made to the company “without taking prior and effective precautions capable of reducing the risk” of default.
