Siemens also pointed to bribery in the Energy and Healthcare sectors.
A corruption scheme involving public officials in the São Paulo state government was not limited to the rail transport sector, according to a complaint filed by a German multinational; "[This type of practice] is also common in the areas of energy transmission and distribution, energy generation, and the health system division," denounced a former executive of the company in an anonymous letter in June 2008; this information led to unprecedented investigations by the CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense); although the complaint does not mention names or levels of government, will the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) governors continue to claim they knew nothing, as Geraldo Alckmin did?
247 – The bribery scheme involving government officials in São Paulo and the Federal District was not limited to the rail transport sector, according to allegations by Siemens. The German multinational, which revealed corrupt practices in Metro and train tenders, also pointed to cartel formations in two other areas where the company worked directly with the government.
"This type of practice is not exclusive to the transportation division. They are also common in the areas of energy transmission and distribution, energy generation, and the healthcare system division, which work with public companies," reads an excerpt from an anonymous letter sent by a former executive to the company's ombudsman in Germany and to Brazilian authorities.
Dated June 2008, the five-page letter, with 77 points and six attachments, reveals... reporter The information published in the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo this Friday, the 23rd, led to unprecedented investigations at the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade). Investigators concluded that the routine denounced in the document involves fraud in public tenders and the payment of bribes to Brazilian authorities.
"It's astonishing to observe that, despite all the scandals and consequences for the entire company, Siemens Brazil continues to pay bribes in Brazil to secure lucrative contracts," the whistleblower adds. In São Paulo, Siemens has several contracts with Cesp, in the energy sector. But there are also negotiations with companies from other states, such as Furnas, Chesf, and Eletronorte, controlled by Eletrobras.
For investigators, there is no doubt about the veracity of the allegations, since other information revealed in the letter was confirmed by six former Siemens executives who signed a leniency agreement with CADE (Brazil's antitrust agency) in May of this year. In addition to the transportation cartel, the Council is investigating possible violations of competition in the energy sector, an investigation initiated in 2006 and not yet concluded. The formation of a cartel in the sale of electrical power distribution transformers is alleged to have caused losses of at least R$ 1,7 billion to public companies in the sector between 1988 and 2004.
Although no names of politicians or government spheres were mentioned, the argument that it would be practically impossible for the state government not to know about fraud in billion-dollar purchases holds true in other areas besides trains. In the case of the allegations about the transportation sector, Governor Geraldo Alckmin guaranteed that he knew nothing and made a point of stressing that the state is a "victim" if the cartel is proven. Could it be that he and his predecessors from the PSDB party were also unaware of the practices in the other sectors denounced by Siemens?