The weaknesses in the Lava Jato indictment against Mantega
Journalist Cíntia Alves, in the GGN newspaper, points out the habitual haste and lack of consistency in Judge Sergio Moro's rulings, highlighting the latest one accepting the charges against former minister Guido Mantega; Cíntia emphasizes that the charges were accepted less than two months before the first round of the 2018 presidential election; the journalist notes that the ruling is only 14 pages long and provides a detailed analysis of the document.
247 - Journalist Cíntia Alves, in Jornal GGN, points out the habitual haste and lack of consistency in Judge Sergio Moro's rulings, highlighting the latest one accepting the charges against former minister Guido Mantega. Cíntia emphasizes that the charges were accepted less than two months before the first round of the 2018 presidential election. The journalist notes that the ruling is only 14 pages long and provides a detailed analysis of the document.
Cíntia points out that the case has no connection to Petrobras and, therefore, should not be in Moro's hands.
"Petrobras is only mentioned in this case when Moro points out that Braskem is a company belonging to the Odebrecht group, which has the state-owned company as one of its shareholders. Nothing more. The judge wrote: 'Braskem was the company that benefited from the corruption agreement, and also appeared as the source of the undue advantage. Braskem is controlled by the Odebrecht Group. Petrobras holds a significant shareholding, although without control.' If the case is not related to works, contracts, or figures who worked at Petrobras, the question arises: should it be under Sergio Moro's jurisdiction?"
Below are the points listed by Cíntia and the GGN newspaper to analyze Sergio Moro's ruling:
"GGN analyzed the document [attached] signed by Moro on Monday (13), and listed below at least 7 central points that raise doubts about the solidity of the accusation. In summary, they are:
1. The complaint filed by Deltan Dallagnol's team has no direct connection to Petrobras;
2. The 50 million reais that Lava Jato claims Mantega requested from Marcelo Odebrecht for Dilma's 2010 campaign were not used in the election;
3. The "material" proof that Odebrecht paid expenses at the request of the PT (Workers' Party) is a piece of paper dubbed the "Italian spreadsheet" in the Lava Jato investigation, where the values and codes noted there gained interpretations based on plea bargain testimonies;
4. Antonio Palocci says he heard that Mantega asked Odebrecht for money;
5. Mantega's accounts abroad would have received credit in 2007 - that is, before the provisional measures that benefited Braskem came under discussion in 2008 and 2009.
6. Moro does not clarify what the possible link is between Mantega's accounts in Switzerland - declared to the Federal Revenue Service in 2017 - and the scheme under investigation;
7. Palocci's testimony states that Odebrecht/Braskem were not the only large companies interested in the Refis program, contrary to what Lava Jato suggests.
The Lava Jato investigation alleges that Mantega solicited R$ 50 million from Marcelo Odebrecht in exchange for the approval of three provisional measures (MPs) that would benefit Braskem. Part of the funds was used to pay marketing consultant João Santana. Palocci allegedly knew about the bribe and participated in the negotiations for the MPs. In the same indictment, Moro highlights that he found it "unusual" that Mantega has two accounts in Switzerland and says that further investigation is needed.