Coffee Break: Employees of São Paulo state-owned company denounce corruption.

Miguel do Rosário, from O Cafezinho - Cafezinho has been investigating a series of indications of irregularities that have allegedly been occurring for years within one of the largest state-owned companies in São Paulo, FURP, the official pharmaceutical laboratory of the State Government.

According to several employees contacted by the blog, there is growing internal outrage over the mismanagement, corruption, and negligence within the agency. Finally, the employees managed to organize themselves and sent a formal complaint letter to the Public Prosecutor's Office, gathering all the evidence of corruption they were able to gather.

If these irregularities are proven, we are talking about misappropriations of hundreds of millions of reais, carried out systematically over many years.

Considering that Geraldo Alckmin is a doctor, and that the biggest problem in Brazil, according to all polls, is public health, we have here a scandal that could reach biblical proportions and not only compromise the re-election of the current governor, but also affect the 2014 presidential campaign, impacting Aécio Neves.

Employees criticize not only the occurrence of irregularities; the management of the agency is also harshly questioned: "few products are currently being produced and, more seriously, they are obsolete. Furp's product line is completely outdated compared to the market."

The employees who filed the complaint, however, have no political motivation. On the contrary, all they want is ethical and competent management, regardless of which party is in government.

In this linkYou can read the Referral Letter to the Public Prosecutor's Office, signed only as "FURP Employees," in which they ask the competent authorities to investigate the irregularities in the institution.

Excerpts from the letter:

“We are forwarding, as an attachment, a complaint containing indications and evidence of corruption that has been occurring for a long time at the Foundation for Popular Medicine – Furp. This document is a small sample of the situation in which the Foundation finds itself. Many other irregularities are occurring. (…) We request, once and for all, that these directors, advisors, and the superintendent be removed from their positions and that complete investigations be carried out into the company's accounts, all contracts, and also the technical aspects. Based on the results, that those responsible be punished and that their ramifications throughout Furp also be identified and appropriate measures taken.”

(…) It is astonishing how little the São Paulo State Government cares about the situation at Furp. Its accounts are not evaluated, its management is not improved, and it has reached this point.

(…) We want Furp back. We want good administrators. We want to be proud again of working for a foundation that contributes to improving the health of the population. We want to work with dignity again and be respected as professionals. This company does not belong to politicians and their cronies. This company is
"of the people."

In this another linkThere you will find the full report written by the employees, compiling all the evidence of overpricing, corruption, fraudulent bidding, and negligence within FURP.

The allegations involve several service and equipment providers to Furp, such as Docprint, Power Segurança e Vigilância, RV Consult Transportes e Logística, Convida, Provence Construtora, and Guima Conseco.

According to the employees' own complaint, the following names may be involved in the embezzlement:

"Technical advisor Gustavo Alexandre de Oliveira's main role at Furp is to defend the interests of private companies that want to do business at Furp. He receives suppliers in his office, coordinates with the responsible departments, and finalizes contracts (though he does not sign them). After that, he is also responsible for ensuring payment to the supplier."

It is urgently necessary to remove this advisor and the entire management of Furp and investigate the possible bribes they may be receiving. Besides him, there are other employees contributing to this, namely: Damião Amaral da Silva, the newly appointed administrative director, Valmir Nogueira de Lima, sales manager (RV contract), Antonio Nogueira Sobrinho, engineering advisor, among others who may be benefiting from these multi-million dollar contracts.”

The allegations involve every imaginable type of corruption within a public agency: overbilling for services rendered, bid rigging, services paid for but not performed, criminal negligence. The list of problems cited by the employees, according to them, is just a sample. Add to all this the lack of respect for employees, who receive food of dubious quality, are excluded from career development discussions, and suffer from an increasingly precarious infrastructure.

All the attachments mentioned in the complaint are hereThese are internal documents from FURP (reports, tenders, contracts, photos of unexecuted works, etc.), obtained exclusively by Cafezinho.