Businessman contradicts Temer and says Colonel Lima was collecting money for him.

247 - Businessman and partner of the Libra group, Gonçalo Torrealba, contradicted the response given by Michel Temer to Federal Police investigators that Colonel João Batista Lima Filho had never acted as a "fundraiser" for the PMDB politician's election campaigns.

According to journalist Andréia Sadi's blog, Torrerealba reportedly told the Federal Police that he had received a request from Colonel Lima to make a donation to Temer's campaign for the Chamber of Deputies "more than ten years ago." Temer ran for federal deputy in 20002 and 2010, before becoming Dilma Rousseff's running mate in 2010.

In January, when questioned by the Federal Police about whether Lima had acted as a campaign fundraiser, Temer stated in writing that "Mr. João Batista assisted me in election campaigns, but never acted as a fundraiser." Lima, like Temer, is being investigated on suspicion of receiving bribes through the so-called ports decree, which allegedly benefited companies in the port sector, including the Libra group. 

However, Torres Realba stated that the funds were not transferred because the group and its partners made donations to major candidates and political parties. According to the businessman, the meetings with Colonel Lima took place at the Libra group's headquarters, and in 20015 he contacted Lima to schedule a meeting at the Secretariat of Ports "because he considered that he had close ties to the government, including Temer."

In his testimony, Torrealba admitted that the ports decree benefited his company, but denied paying bribes or making donations through undeclared funds.