Son of prosecutor and former secretary are targets of new phase of Operation Ápia.

Tocantins 247 - The Federal Police carried out, this Tuesday (7), four arrest warrants during the third phase of Operation Ápia, which investigates a scheme of fraud in bidding for earthmoving and asphalt paving in Tocantins - the new phase of Operation Ápia aims to investigate bribe payments in road maintenance contracts in Tocantins.

One of the warrants served was against Renan Bezerra de Melo Pereira, former superintendent of works and son of the Attorney General of the Public Ministry of Tocantins, Clenan Renaul de Melo. Also targeted in the operation are the former state Secretary of Infrastructure, Alexandre Ubaldo, and two businessmen. Twenty-two search and seizure warrants and 21 summonses were also served. According to the Federal Police, the organization suspected of fraud operated in three groups comprised of politicians, businessmen, and public servants. The suspicion is that the group embezzled approximately R$ 200 million.

Among those under investigation is former governor Sandoval Cardoso (SDD), who had a preventive arrest warrant issued against him and presented himself on October 13th of last year. He stated he was at the disposal of the Justice system. Former governor Siqueira Campos (formerly PSDB and currently without a party) complied with a coercive warrant and was taken to give a statement. The former PSDB member denied coordinating expenses and holding any secretarial position in the state government in 2014. The defendants' statements were given to Jornal Hoje.

The regional superintendent of the Federal Police in Tocantins, Arcelino Vieira, reported that the groups were formed with the intention of defrauding and circumventing oversight in order to profit from services that were often not performed. "The political core was composed of people who were high-ranking state officials, two former governors [Sandoval Cardoso and Siqueira Campos] who, through contracts with Banco do Brasil, obtained international loans," he said.

According to the superintendent, the loans were based on a state law that authorized the state to create an executive committee that generated the resources and distributed them to various state departments. One of these was the Infrastructure Department (Agetrans), which handled the bidding process and monitored all the works.

According to the Federal Police investigation, the funds acquired through three lines of credit totaled R$ 1,2 billion. Of this amount, Agetrans received R$ 850 million to invest in roadworks, but the contracts received addendums that, if included, would exceed R$ 1 billion.

"The bidding documents were full of clauses restricting competition and favoring businessmen from the group. In the end, it was found that there was price fixing to divide the lot among six companies. The existence of a cartel to defraud the bidding processes and embezzle federal public funds is quite clear," stated federal prosecutor José Ricardo Teixeira.