Court freezes assets of Zezé Perrella and his son.

André Richter - Reporter for Agência Brasil

Brasilia - The Minas Gerais Court has ordered the lifting of bank and tax secrecy for Senator Zezé Perrella (PDT-MG) and his son, State Representative Gustavo Perrella (SDD-MG). Both are partners in a company that allegedly entered into contracts without bidding with the state government, according to the Minas Gerais Public Prosecutor's Office (MP-MG).

Responding to a request from the Public Prosecutor's Office, Judge Rosimere das Graças do Couto, of the 3rd Court of the State Public Treasury and Autonomous Entities of Belo Horizonte, ruled that the measures requested by the Public Prosecutor's Office should be accepted to guarantee the investigation of the initiated process and the eventual reimbursement to public coffers. The magistrate ordered that the Land Registry offices and the Department of Motor Vehicles (Detran) freeze assets up to the limit of R$ 14,58 million, the amount of the misappropriations indicated in the complaint.

"I understand that, in fact, given the existence of evidence of acts of administrative misconduct, the order to break bank and tax secrecy is justified so that the financial transactions of those who, in theory, directly or indirectly, may be involved in the alleged illegal acts can be disclosed," the judge ruled.

In a statement released to the press, the senator denied any irregularities in the contracts and stated that he will appeal the decision. "Senator Zezé Perrella is completely calm, since the entire procedure carried out between his family's company and Epamig was always based on applicable legal norms, and there was no illegality that would denote administrative misconduct, as will be demonstrated throughout the process," the statement said.