The Government of Minas Gerais dismissed on Wednesday (17) the president of the State Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IEPHA), João Paulo Martins, and his chief of staff, Daniel Silva Queiroga. The information is from G1.
The decision, published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette, occurs one day after Martins was cited as a target of the reject operation, triggered by the Federal Police to investigate an alleged corruption scheme linked to the granting of environmental licenses for mining companies in the state.
The command of the institute will be assumed interim by Edwilson Martins. In a statement, the now former president of Iepha stated that he has already sought legal advice and denied any irregularity, noting that all his decisions followed technical and ethical criteria.
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Who is João Paulo Martins
Career servant of the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), Martins assumed the presidency of IEPHA in May 2024. Historian, architect and urban planner, acted in positions of technical coordination at IPHAN in Minas Gerais and headed the agency’s office in Mariana (MG), a city harshly affected by the rupture of the Samarco dam in 2015.
He has a degree in History from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and Architecture and Urbanism from the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), as well as a master’s degree in History and Political Cultures from UFMG. Its professional career is linked to the preservation of cultural heritage, urban policy and urban legislation.
Reject operation
Operation Rejection investigates the existence of a criminal organization that, at least 2020, would have worked in environmental agencies of Minas Gerais, such as the State Environmental Foundation (FEAM), the State Forest Institute (IEF) and the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development (SEMAD).
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According to the Federal Court, the group favored mining companies upon payment of bribes, in a scheme that may have moved billionaire figures.
On the eve of the operation, one of the targets, Delfim, even represented the Minas Gerais government in a public hearing on changes in environmental licensing to the agricultural sector. The next day, he was arrested by the Federal Police.
