Paulo Preto denies fleeing with slush funds from the PSDB party.
In a two-hour deposition, the former director of Dersa says he did not appropriate R$ 4 million that were allegedly donated to José Serra's campaign.
In a two-and-a-half-hour deposition to the State Public Prosecutor's Office yesterday, engineer and former director of Dersa, Paulo Vieira de Souza, known as Paulo Preto, denied having misappropriated R$ 4 million intended to finance the PSDB's 2010 election campaign. He signed a commitment agreement through which he voluntarily waives his bank and tax secrecy for the period relevant to the investigation.
Paulo Preto is the target of an investigation by the Public and Social Heritage Prosecutor's Office into allegations of influence peddling, corruption, illicit enrichment, and misappropriation of public funds. The proceedings, initiated at the request of the PT (Workers' Party) caucus in the Legislative Assembly, are confidential.
The former director of Dersa reported that he is suing for defamation all those who attributed to him the embezzlement of R$ 4 million. He has already won some of the lawsuits. He attended the hearing accompanied by his lawyer, José Luís Oliveira Lima, and answered all the questions from the prosecution. "Given that the proceedings are confidential, I cannot comment," said the lawyer.