HSBC CPI will break Steinbruch's confidentiality.
Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Psol-AP), who submitted the request to establish the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) into the Swissleaks case, has already defined some of the commission's first targets. One of them will be businessman Benjamin Steinbruch, owner of CSN, whose name appeared on the list of HSBC account holders.
247 - Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Psol-AP), who submitted the request to establish the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) into the Swissleaks case, has already defined some of the commission's first targets. One of them will be businessman Benjamin Steinbruch, owner of CSN, whose name appeared on the list of HSBC account holders. Read below the material distributed by Randolfe's press office:
The HSBC Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry is seeking clarification from Brazilian authorities regarding the investigation into currency evasion. The first public hearing revealed new aspects of the scandal.
Brasilia, 26 – The HSBC CPI meeting approved on Thursday (26) requests to invite the Minister of Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo, the Secretary-General of the Federal Revenue, Jorge Rachid, and the President of the Council for the Control of Financial Activities – Coaf, Antônio Gustavo Rodrigues, to appear to provide clarifications.
The parliamentarians want to question Rachid and Rodrigues about the leak of a preliminary list, allegedly from the Federal Revenue Service, containing fifteen names of Brazilians with accounts abroad – in this case, in Switzerland. "It is noteworthy that the document presented here has the Federal Revenue Service letterhead. That is why Rachid needs to come here to explain the leak," said the vice-president of the HSBC CPI, Randolfe Rodrigues (PSOL-AP).
The Minister of Justice, Eduardo Cardozo, will be invited – on a date yet to be determined – to speak about the procedures of the investigation that Brazilian authorities are conducting regarding the alleged evasion of foreign currency. It is up to the Brazilian government to obtain official data from the French state regarding the list of Brazilians with accounts in Switzerland, and the minister will need to clarify what measures have been taken so far.
For Randolfe Rodrigues, it is clear that there was negligence on the part of the authorities in this case, since investigations in several other countries began in 2008. During this period, the French government shared the first data on the scandal with the Greek government, and from there other countries became interested and began to investigate. "Either we have a very flawed tax evasion information system, or the Brazilian authorities failed to detect what may be the biggest tax evasion case in the country's history," argued the vice-president.
Thursday's meeting included the first public hearing of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI), in which journalists Fernando Rodrigues, from the UOL Portal – the only Brazilian journalist with permanent membership in the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) – and Chico Otávio, from O Globo, were heard. Chico requested access to the data, underwent training, and is now considered a temporary member of the ICIJ, an international consortium that brings together 185 investigative professionals in more than 65 countries. The two were questioned for over two hours, but did not present the official list with the names of Brazilians who have accounts in Switzerland. Fernando Rodrigues even called the leak of the preliminary list with 15 names of Brazilians by the Federal Revenue Service a crime.
The parliamentarians didn't even question the journalists' failure to disclose the list. They want information from official sources. "And the official data is with the French government. To access it, we need the help of Brazilian authorities and then immediate action with the French state because that's where the more than 8 names are, and if someone is indicted by this CPI, the data must be sought from the legal source," concluded Randolfe Rodrigues.
Next Steps
On Tuesday (31) there will be a working meeting at the Attorney General's Office with the Attorney General, Rodrigo Janot, and with Vladimir Aras, Secretary of International Affairs of the Attorney General's Office.
The sister of federal deputy Paulo Maluf (PP-SP), Tereza Maluf, appears on the list of Brazilians with accounts in Switzerland. Terezinha Maluf will be invited to provide explanations. Senator Randolfe intends to file a request to break the tax secrecy of the businesswoman.
The senator should also request the lifting of tax secrecy for others mentioned by journalists at Thursday's hearing. Among them are members of the Barata, Queiroz Galvão, and Steinbruch families, as well as Henry Hoyer, who is allegedly one of the operators cited in the Lava Jato investigation.