The media is hiding the investigation into Andrea, the PSDB's fixer.
The second most voted city councilor in São Paulo and in Brazil, Brazilian ambassador to Rome during Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government, for whom he served as treasurer of his reelection campaign, Secretary of Energy under Mario Covas, head of the Subprefectures under José Serra, and Secretary of Culture under Geraldo Alckmin; Andrea Matarazzo's extensive resume was not enough for his name to be highlighted by the mainstream media in the news of the court-ordered breach of his bank and tax secrecy under suspicion of involvement in the Alstom-Siemens corruption scandal; it would be like reporting that AP 470 has 42 defendants without mentioning that the famous José Dirceu, José Genoíno, and Delúbio Soares, from the PT party, are among them.
247 - Why does councilman Andrea Matarazzo have so much influence in the traditional media?
What made him such a powerful man, right from the start of his political career, at the highest levels of the PSDB party?
How did he manage to start his public career at the top in 1991 and maintain an uninterrupted, upward trajectory full of power over the last 22 years, in all, without exception, the PSDB administrations at the federal (Fernando Henrique), state (São Paulo governments of Mario Covas, José Serra and Geraldo Alckmin) and municipal (Serra and Gilberto Kassab administrations) levels?
Because he is the great-nephew of the historical Count Francesco Matarazzo?
Or because it held well-kept secrets within the São Paulo PSDB party, at least until the Alstom-Siemens scandal broke, revealing allegations of embezzlement and corruption in the São Paulo public transportation system?
These and other questions can now be answered more precisely.
On Monday the 30th, the courts ordered the lifting of banking and tax secrecy for Matarazzo, as well as ten other suspects involved in the scandal that is shaking the morale of the São Paulo PSDB party. Most of the names are unknown to the Brazilian public (list below), including executives from the two multinational companies involved in the scheme. In addition, there is the name of the former president of Metro, José Fagali Neto.
Despite being by far the most influential figure in this powerful group, as proof of Matarazzo's influence in traditional media, his name was left out of the headlines on the UOL, IG, and G1 portals.
These sources reported the fact on the afternoon of Monday the 30th, after the information, raised by journalist Fausto Macedo, was first given on Estadão.com.
Note: on the website of the major São Paulo newspaper itself, however, Matarazzo's name was also spared the prominence it deserved.
From a journalistic standpoint, reporting, with the utmost discretion, on the investigation that is about to begin into Andrea Matarazzo's financial and tax affairs is not justified, regardless of the angle from which the issue is examined. After all, he himself was hailed by the same media at the end of last year as the second most voted city councilor in São Paulo and Brazil, thanks to more than 117 votes in last year's São Paulo election.
Among the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) members, Matarazzo has always been the champion. A true jack-of-all-trades. Beyond the political feat of beating all other party competitors on his first attempt, Matarazzo is a versatile figure in the PSDB's public sector: he was Secretary of Energy and president of the state-owned company Cesp during the Mario Covas administration, Minister-Chief of the Secretariat of Social Communication during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration (where he also served as ambassador to Rome), Municipal Secretary of Services, first, and then of Sub-prefectures, during José Serra's administration in the São Paulo City Hall, and, phew!, State Secretary of Culture during Geraldo Alckmin's administration.
Any journalism manual would state that a news story of the magnitude of the breach of confidentiality of a PSDB member like Matarazzo, within the context of the notorious Siemens-Alstom scandal, should be a major draw for readers. But, from the point of view of being in tune with the PSDB, it is, in fact, better that he doesn't appear as much as he should. It doesn't look good...
For comparison, it would be as if all these traditional media outlets reported that Criminal Action 470, being judged in the Supreme Federal Court, analyzes the corruption involvement of 42 defendants. And not, as happened, that of former PT presidents José Dirceu and José Genoíno, and the party's former treasurer Delúbio Soares.
Which is the bigger news: 42 defendants being tried in AP 470 or Dirceu, Genoíno, Delúbio and 39 others being defendants in the Supreme Court?
The answer is obvious.
There is also an aggravating factor. Just as Delúbio was the treasurer of the PT (Workers' Party), Matarazzo was presented, in Fernando Henrique's reelection campaign in 1998, also as the treasurer of the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) campaign. He never hesitated to raise money for his party.
Breaking his bank secrecy will provide important information about his possible involvement in the Alstom-Siemens scandal. But not only that. It could shed much light on the modus operandi of the ruling party.
In addition to all his positions, Matarazzo enjoys the close relationship with the most prominent members of the PSDB party. With Mario Covas, from whom it was difficult to disagree, the current city councilman served as Secretary of Energy and president of Cesp, a company that was privatized using a model heavily criticized at the time, including by the governor himself. Considered the best-structured state-owned company in the state, Cesp was divided into 11 parts, being auctioned off by the market at prices that could have been much higher than the values obtained at the close of the operations that liquidated the state-owned company, according to industry experts.
In the presence of the anti-smoking activist José Serra, Matarazzo displayed impressive confidence by, on several occasions, blowing cigarette smoke in the former Minister of Health's face. Who could do that without fear of a humiliating reprimand?
Andrea's father, Giannandrea Matarazzo, who died in 2011, was president of the Administrative Council of the Dante Alighieri school, perhaps the most traditional in São Paulo, and of its alumni association. During his tenure in the latter position, allegations of embezzlement surfaced. The case was reported by the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper one day and then never appeared in its pages again. This is further evidence of the strong influence of the politician from the PSDB party, which may be better understood from now on.
Below is a list of the 11 names whose bank and tax secrecy was broken by the courts this Monday, the 30th:
Andrea Matarazzo, Eduardo José Bernini, Henrique Fingerman, Jean Marie Marcel Jackie Lannelongue, Jean Pierre Charles Antoine Coulardon, Jonio Kahan Foigel, José Geraldo Villas Boas, Romeu Pinto Júnior, Sabino Indelicato, Thierry Charles Lopez de Arias and Jorge Fagali Neto, (former president of Metrô).