Federal Public Prosecutor's Office files lawsuit for administrative misconduct against Lula

247 - The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office has filed a request to open an administrative misconduct lawsuit against former President Lula (PT) and former Minister of Social Security Amir Lando. They are accused of using public resources for personal promotion and to favor the BMG bank by sending 10,6 million letters to INSS (Brazilian National Institute of Social Security) beneficiaries between October and December 2004. The lawsuit seeks the return of R$ 9,5 million to public coffers.

The opinion is part of an appeal by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office against a decision by a lower court judge. The case began in 2011, when the ministry filed a lawsuit against Lula and Lando. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the letters signed by Lula and Lando informed about payroll loans with reduced interest rates. At the time, BMG was the only private bank that offered this type of loan, according to the accusation.

In November 2012, Judge Paulo Cesar Lopes, of the 13th Federal Court of the Federal District, dismissed the case due to a technical error, without ruling on the merits. According to the judge, the Public Prosecutor's Office could only have prosecuted Lula during his term in office and through another action, that of a crime of responsibility.

Therefore, the MPF appealed to the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region, in Brasília. The new opinion, sent on Wednesday (27), is signed by prosecutor Marcelo Antônio Ceará Serra Azul. He says that the proposed action is correct and asks the court to compel the first instance to accept it. The case is now with judge I'Talo Fioravanti Sabo Mendes.