Gilmar Mendes annuls Arleen’s breach of confidentiality approved by the Organized Crime CPI

Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), canceled this Thursday (19) a order of the Organized Crime CPI that determined the breaking of banking and tax secrecy of the Arleen Investment Fund. The decision claimed that the investigation did not contain evidence of a connection with the object of the CPI.

“It states that the CPI-Crime in the ‘foundation of the request did not even make an effort to even draw a parallel with the CPI’s object’”, says the decision.

The main reason for the annulment was the fact that the CPI approved the investigation of the fund within a “block” with several other requirements, without discussing them individually. Gilmar Mendes highlighted that breach of confidentiality cannot be something automatic or symbolicbecause it interferes with fundamental rights.

According to the minister, the Constitution requires that each breach of confidentiality has its own explanation. “The approval of acts of this nature cannot occur en bloc or symbolically”, he stated in the decision.

He further reinforced that the measure of Investigating someone’s accounts is extreme e not an ordinary step. “The breach of confidentiality does not constitute an ordinary act of investigation, but an exceptional measure”.

Previous STF order

Another point in the decision was the perception that the CPI tried to ignore a previous STF order. The minister had already prohibited similar investigations against the same group by lack of justification. By creating a new application with the same objective, the CPI would have committed an irregularity.

Gilmar Mendes said that the commission sought, “by oblique means, to access information that falls within the same investigative spectrum already considered inadmissible”. For him, this sets up a “practice of fraud to the court decision” and a “qualified misuse of purpose”, as the power of the CPI was used to try to reopen an investigation that the Court had already blocked.

Reactions

Senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE) reacted by criticizing Gilmar Mendes’ decision. In a post on social media, the parliamentarian stated that the objective of the measure is to “stop investigations and guarantee the impunity of powerful people”. See the demonstration below:

Minister Gilmar Mendes, using the same process he resurrected to hijack a report and establish a protective wall for his colleague minister Toffoli, has now annulled the breach of confidentiality of the Arleem fund, operated by the criminal organization (Master bank) to make payments to…

— Alessandro Vieira (@_AlessandroSE)

What happens now

With the order completely annulled, the breach of confidentiality loses validity. The measure also automatically protects the data of individuals linked to the companyas well as its partners and managers.

The minister ordered the notification, “urgently”, of the Banco Centralyes Federal Revenue and the Financial Activities Control Board (COAF). The objective is to ensure that banks and government agencies “abstainimmediately, to forward any information and data” that had been requested by the senators.