"I have always fought against illegal activities."

247 - Appearing calm, the governor of Goiás, Marconi Perillo, spent the first half of his testimony to the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) on the Cachoeira case defending himself against various accusations. He spoke about the sale of the house in Alphaville, his relationship with Carlos Cachoeira, and people who were supposedly appointed by the illegal gambling operator in his government. "That never happened," he said. "I have always fought against illegal activities."

Even before the questions, Marconi Perillo dedicated himself to talking about the sale of the house. He used about ten minutes of his speaking time to give his version, with documents, about the house sold to businessman Walter Santiago, which was inhabited by the racketeer Carlinhos Cachoeira and became the place where he was arrested.

Perillo maintained that he received the value of the property in three checks. "I wasn't concerned about who the issuer was," he said. "Especially since they were post-dated." However, he assured that he deposited the checks into his own checking account and declared the amount on his income tax return. "It would be absurd to do that if there was something wrong with this transaction," he stated. "I sold a private property, purchased with a loan from Caixa Econômica. I didn't sell anything belonging to the State," he continued.

Victim of persecution?

Marconi also presented himself as a victim of persecution before the parliamentarians. He cited "distorted facts," recalled his opposition stance against the military regime, mentioned the cases of politicians Henrique Santillo and Ibsen Pinheiro, "who had to prove their innocence, not the other way around," and listed actions taken by the Goiás police against slot machines.

Marconi quoted excerpts from a recorded conversation between Carlinhos Cachoeira and his wife: "I'm finished, it's persecution," the governor repeated. He said that the racketeer's group has no influence on his government. In the middle of his testimony, after citing figures on the economic development of Goiás, Marconi handed over to the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) state decrees that establish "meritocracy" as the method for hiring and promotions among Goiás's public employees. The intention was to prove that Carlinhos Cachoeira did not promote appointments in his government. "My government has no bribes."

A single recording

Governor Marconi Perillo also presented, in his opening statement before the questions from the members of the Cachoeira CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry), a point he considers strong in his defense. "In 30 hours of recordings, there is only one call between me and Carlinhos Cachoeira, and it was a birthday greeting," said Perillo. He maintained that his name was used "unfairly" in other conversations by politicians who wanted to show they had his trust. "I was mentioned so they could demonstrate prestige with me. It's unlikely that any parliamentarian hasn't already been a victim of a maneuver of this type."

Marconi also spoke about the press, complained about the attacks, but also defended freedom of expression. "Sometimes, I can't believe so much malice," he said. "Without a free press, we couldn't move forward in democracy, but there is a lot of misinformation, which only leads to injustice."