Cruzeiro's director could face pre-trial detention.
José Maria Fialho is the vice-president of the Minas Gerais club and one of the directors of Stillus Alimentação, owned by former president Alvimar Perrella, which is accused of irregularities. Wiretaps show Fialho attempting to obstruct the investigations.
Minas 247 - The situation of the businessmen linked to Stillus Alimentação is becoming more complicated every day. The state Public Prosecutor's Office is considering requesting the preventive detention of one of the company's directors, José Maria Fialho. He, who is also vice-president of Cruzeiro, was caught on wiretaps ordering the hiding of documents that allegedly incriminate him. Stillus belongs to former Cruzeiro director Alvimar Perrella, brother of the team's former president, now Senator Zezé Perrella (PDT). The company is accused of bid rigging, cartel formation, and overpricing in contracts with the government.
Read the article by Amália Goulart, from the newspaper Nowadays:
The Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) of the State is analyzing the possibility of requesting the preventive detention of the vice-president of Cruzeiro and one of the directors of the company Stillus Alimentação, José Maria Fialho. He was caught in a wiretapped phone conversation trying to hide documents that allegedly incriminate him.
The phone call, as reported by Hoje em Dia, was made from a landline to a Stillus employee named Evandro on the day of Operation "Laranja com Pequi," launched by the State Public Prosecutor's Office. At the time, Fialho told Evandro that he would have to go to the company headquarters to collect the documents that were on his desk.
Fialho and his lawyer, who have been sought for comment since the day of the operation, have not responded to requests for comment.
On Friday (29), Hoje em Dia and Record Minas showed a wiretap in which Fialho considered breaking an R$11,4 million contract with the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj) to provide cafeteria meals.
When a suspect obstructs the investigation, prosecutors can request their arrest. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, this possibility is under review.
On Friday (29), the Court accepted a request from the Public Heritage Prosecutor's Office for the eight people arrested in the operation last Tuesday to remain in jail. They were arrested on temporary warrants, which last for five days. The Public Prosecutor's Office requested, the day before yesterday, the extension of the arrests for another five days, and was successful in the Judiciary.
Operation "Orange with Pequi" dismantled a gang that defrauded school lunches and food supplies for prisons in Minas Gerais. The losses to public coffers are estimated at R$ 55 million. Directors of Stillus and the company's owner, Alvimar Perrella, are accused of bid rigging, cartel formation, and overpricing in contracts with the administration.
On Thursday (28), the legal advisor of the City Hall of Montes Claros, Fabricius Veloso, presented himself to the prosecutors of the case, in Belo Horizonte. He was a fugitive. Fabricius, nephew of a magistrate from Montes Claros, was the only one whose arrest was relaxed. After the presentation, the Prosecutor's Office decided to release him, as it considers that he does not pose a risk to the investigations.