ISS Mafia: PSD MP throws Serra to the wolves.
Guilherme Campos claims that former São Paulo mayor and PSD president, Gilberto Kassab, only followed the agreement made by former mayor José Serra (PSDB) in 2008 to maintain the structure of the Finance Secretariat during his administration; Mauro Ricardo, who headed the department, was Serra's right-hand man and is now accused of ordering the shelving of investigations into the tax fraud that embezzled more than R$ 500 million from public funds.
247 – In an attempt to clean up the PSD's image in the ISS tax inspector mafia scandal, federal deputy Guilherme Campos (PSD) shifted responsibility for the São Paulo administration's Finance Secretariat team to former mayor José Serra.
"It's just a matter of observation. The takeover agreement included a commitment to maintain the structure set up by Mayor José Serra and Finance Secretary Mauro Ricardo," he said. Serra's right-hand man allegedly ordered the investigations into the fraud to be shelved.
Kassab was mentioned in wiretapped conversations of auditors arrested in the scheme that embezzled up to R$ 500 million in Service Tax (ISS) from the São Paulo City Hall during his administration.
Campos also stated that auditor Ronilson Bezerra, who implicated Kassab in the scheme, wanted to incriminate the former mayor because he knew he was being investigated. "It's a statement lost in time and space, from someone desperate. In a cornered situation, a person starts shooting at everyone," he said.