Senate to investigate Zelotes; HSBC CPI exposes bigwigs.

By Tereza Cruvinel

Starting next week, two Senate CPIs (Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry) will begin vying for attention with the Chamber of Deputies' Petrobras CPI, which is investigating the bribery scheme at the company denounced by Operation Lava Jato.

A regulation limiting the number of Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry (CPIs) that can operate simultaneously to a maximum of five, approved yesterday (April 9th), will allow the establishment of the Federal Revenue CPI, which will investigate irregularities that, according to Operation Zelotes of the Federal Police, could reach R$ 19 billion. This could even be called "the biggest corruption scandal of all time," a title already given to the Mensalão case, which involved R$ 55 million, and to the Petrobras case, which has just estimated losses of R$ 6 billion due to inflated contracts for the payment of bribes. Now, however, whistleblower Paulo Roberto Costa has contradicted what he said, stating that the contracts did not have inflated prices and that the bribes came from the profits of the construction companies.

The HSBC Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, which investigates deposits made by Brazilians in the HSBC branch in Switzerland, is gaining momentum by summoning prominent figures such as the bank's president in Brazil, Guilherme Brandão; businessman Benjamin Steinbruch, a key figure in privatizations during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso era; Armínio Fraga, president of the Central Bank during the same government; and former directors of the São Paulo metro, Celso Silva and Ademir Venâncio de Araújo. Involved in the "Tucano train scandal," in which metro executives allegedly solicited bribes from foreign suppliers, they are also said to be depositors in Switzerland. The requests were made by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (PSOL-AP). TV presenter Ratinho is another who is expected to testify. He is also reportedly among the more than eight thousand Brazilians who moved more than six thousand numbered accounts between 2006 and 2007 in the bank's Swiss branch. With so many bigwigs appearing before the HSBC CPI, instead of rats, as they did during João Vacari's testimony to the Petrobras CPI, the provocateurs in the house would have to release foxes during the session.

The Federal Revenue Service CPI, as it should be called, will investigate the allegations of Operation Zelotes, conducted by the Federal Police. It was requested by Senator Ataídes Oliveira, from Tocantins, a member of the PSDB party. He has completed the collection of the 27 necessary signatures, and there are no longer any procedural obstacles to its establishment. Unless some agreement is reached with the PT party, which had been trying to incorporate these investigations into the scope of the HSBC CPI.

"This was our initial intention. After all, in both cases there was billions in tax evasion, involving banks and large companies, and the transfer of funds abroad. But we are still not sure about the best course of action: having two separate Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry or just one dealing with both cases," says the PT leader, Senator Humberto Costa.

One or two, what is certain is that the cream of national capitalism is involved in both cases, and some of its leading figures will be making their presence felt in the Senate in the coming days. And, in both cases, there are no politicians, much less PT (Workers' Party) politicians, involved. This should help explain the lack of interest from the media and the opposition, despite the billions of dollars involved. The Gerdau group alone, according to sources from Operation Zelotse, allegedly paid R$ 50 million to have a R$ 4 billion fine annulled by the CARF (Council for the Analysis of Tax Appeals), linked to the Internal Revenue Service. As the populist UDN (National Democratic Union) members would say, how many units of the "Minha Casa Minha Vida" (My House, My Life) program could have been built with that much money?