Gurgel suggests to Barbosa not to release Duda's assets.
Brazil's Attorney General, Roberto Gurgel, today sent a document to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) stating his opposition to the release of assets belonging to Duda Mendonça, who was acquitted in the Mensalão corruption scandal. Valued at approximately R$ 30 million, the advertising executive's assets include an island in Bahia.
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Despite the optimism of lawyer Antônio Carlos de Almeida Castro, known as Kakay, who represented the Bahia-born advertising executive Duda Mendonça in the mensalão trial at the Supreme Federal Court (STF), the court's president, Joaquim Barbosa, is not expected to release his client's assets anytime soon.
Brazil's Attorney General, Roberto Gurgel, today submitted a document to the Supreme Court stating his opposition to the release of Duda Mendonça's assets.
"According to the Attorney General's Office, the blocking of the defendant's assets should be maintained until the final judgment of the case. According to Roberto Gurgel, the possibility of a change in the judgment after the appeals process is sufficient reason to justify maintaining the defendant's seized assets until the final outcome of the criminal action," says a note on the Attorney General's Office website (see...). here).
Acquitted by the court in the Mensalão trial, the marketing strategist has had his assets – cars, real estate, and money – frozen for seven years. Upon receiving Duda's defense request for the release of the assets in January, Joaquim Barbosa requested an opinion from the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Valued at approximately R$ 30 million, Duda's assets include an island in the southern part of Bahia, as well as farms in different regions of the state.