Secretary and mayor in Rio Grande do Sul have assets frozen.

Legal Consultant - The 1st Federal Court of Bagé (RS) decreed the unavailability of all assets of the current mayor, Luís Eduardo Dudu Colombo dos Santos; and of the former mayor Luiz Fernando Mainardi, current Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Agribusiness of Rio Grande do Sul. The preliminary injunction was issued on Monday (12/16), within the scope of the Public Civil Action for Administrative Impropriety, filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office.

Also having their assets frozen were the former rectors of the University of the Campanha Region (Urcamp), Morvan Meirelles Ferrugem and Francisco Arno Vaz da Cunha; the former administrators of the Santa Casa de Caridade de Bagé, Mário Mena Kalil and Luiz Alberto Corrêa Vargas; and the former municipal secretaries Manif Curi Jorge, who worked in Health and the Environment; and Luíza Valéria Soares Rodrigues, in the Health Department.

Tax and labor fraud

The defendants were indicted by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of having entered into irregular agreements related to the government programs "Family Health," "Blood Bank," and "Better Early Childhood." The agreements, signed by the City Hall with the Santa Casa de Caridade and Urcamp, allegedly presented problems in the hiring of outsourced labor.

According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, there was tax and labor fraud. The first was based on the suppression of the collection of employer contributions destined for Social Security, since the third-party intermediaries enjoyed constitutional immunity due to their philanthropic nature, a benefit not extended to the municipal entity by law. The second consisted of concealing the subordinate relationship between "outsourced" employees and the Municipality of Bagé.

The substitute judge, Gustavo Chies Cignachi, who granted the injunction, understood that the initial complaint presented elements that prove, in summary judgment, the occurrence of tax and labor fraud. "I understand that, for the purposes of asset freezing, the participation of all defendants in acts of impropriety, causing harm to public funds, has been sufficiently demonstrated by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office," he concluded.

The defendants may appeal the decision to the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region. The merits of the class action lawsuit will still be analyzed by the Federal Court. (Information from the Press Office of the Federal Court of Rio Grande do Sul.)