Following allegations, Alckmin demands investigations.
A document seized in France confirms a bribe paid by the multinational Alstom to the Energy Secretariat of Mario Covas (1998); at the time, the department was headed by Andrea Matarazzo; the governor, a member of the PSDB party, did not comment on the councilman's involvement and said he would await the progress of the investigations before taking action regarding the new information; Matarazzo is a personal friend of José Serra and has always been part of the PSDB leadership in São Paulo.
247 - In a five-minute press conference, the governor of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB), reacted, without going into details, to the new allegations of bribery by Alstom to the São Paulo administration.
A document seized at Alstom's headquarters in France allegedly indicates that the company distributed bribes to obtain a US$45,7 million contract (R$52 million at the time) in 1998 during the administration of Mário Covas (PSDB). At the time, the department was headed by councilman Andrea Matarazzo.
The politician said yesterday that he will await the progress of the investigations before taking any action regarding the new information.
"Regarding this complaint from Alstom, I want to reiterate our commitment to the investigation. We want it to be carried out as quickly as possible. This is an event that occurred 16 years ago, and we want to have the results of this investigation," stated the governor.
"We have information that we learned about through the press. We are conducting [the investigations]. Dr. Gustavo Ungaro [president of the General Comptroller's Office of the Administration of São Paulo] is working on this 24 hours a day," he said.
He did not mention the name of Matarazzo nor of Robson Marinho, a member of the State Court of Auditors, who is also accused of receiving bribes from the multinational.
According to reports published by Veja magazine and Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, part of this money was used in the parallel accounting of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso during the 1998 presidential election. The spreadsheet detailing the slush fund was compiled by former campaign treasurer Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, who confirmed Matarazzo's role in the unofficial fundraising.read more).