Alckmin says he trusts Chalita, who is being investigated by the Public Prosecutor's Office.

247 – After a complaint made by Folha de S.Paulo Regarding the fact that federal deputy Gabriel Chalita (PMDB-SP) is facing 11 investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the governor of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin, stated this Monday that he trusts the PMDB member. "I trust Gabriel Chalita. He is a person with a public spirit and seriousness," said the governor, also... according to FolhaThe newspaper points out that the actions are motivated by suspicions of corruption, illicit enrichment, and overpricing of public contracts from the time when Chalita was Alckmin's Secretary of Education.

The governor also emphasized his confidence in the Public Prosecutor's Office and stated that the investigation needs to be carried out to investigate the cases and clarify any doubts. According to the newspaper, which published the complaint last Saturday, the investigations are based on four testimonies from systems analyst Roberto Leandro Grobman, who claims to be a former informal advisor to the congressman when he was secretary. According to Grobman, the then-secretary demanded a 25% bribe on the value of contracts with suppliers to the department, such as the COC educational group, for which the whistleblower worked.

In a statement to Folha, Chalita denies everything and says that Grobman's objective is to damage his image. The accusation was made in October 2012, the same month that Chalita was defeated in the São Paulo municipal election by the current mayor, Fernando Haddad (PT). Alckmin found the delay in making the accusation strange. "I find it strange that the accusation comes ten years later. What is the objective of the accusation? Why ten years later?", he declared, without further clarification. Normally far from scandals, Chalita's name now faces the challenge of getting rid of this one, since he is one of the candidates considered to run for governor of São Paulo in 2014 for the PMDB.