Health CPI: Nóbrega denies involvement in irregularities.

The former undersecretary of general administration of the Health Secretariat, Marcello Nóbrega, denied to the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) any involvement or participation in irregularities in contracts of that GDF (Government of the Federal District) department; the focus of the questioning was regarding a contract with a company for vehicle maintenance, Tíquete Car, which appears in the recordings; Nóbrega said that he was only responsible for requesting the contracting of the service, but denied participation or influence in defining the type of contract and the company chosen.

August 19, 2016, 20:26 PMUpdated June 29, 2018, 17:40 pm

The former undersecretary of general administration of the Health Secretariat, Marcello Nóbrega, denied to the CPI any involvement or participation in irregularities in contracts of that GDF department; the focus of the questioning was in relation to a company contract for vehicle maintenance, Tíquete Car, which appears in the recordings; Nóbrega said that he was only responsible for requesting the contracting of the service, but denied participation or influence in defining the type of contract and the company chosen (Photo: Leonardo Lucena)

From CLDF - The former undersecretary of general administration of the Health Secretariat, Marcello Nóbrega, denied this Friday (19) to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) any involvement or participation in irregularities in contracts of that department of the GDF. Nóbrega testified to the Health CPI because his name was mentioned in conversations recorded by the president of the union of health workers, Marli Rodrigues, about alleged corruption in government contracts.

The main questions from the CPI members to the witness concerned the hiring of service providers. But the greatest focus was on a contract with a company for vehicle maintenance, Tíquete Car, which appears in the recordings. Nóbrega said that he was only responsible for requesting the hiring of the service, but denied participation or influence in defining the type of contract and the company chosen.

The company was hired through adherence to a price list from a process conducted by the Federal Highway Police to manage the maintenance of the entire fleet of vehicles of the Federal District Government (GDF), including the ambulances of the health department. The Federal District Court of Auditors has raised questions about possible bias in the terms of reference, which allegedly benefited Tíquete Car, and also about the speed of the contracting process.

Despite denying any involvement or knowledge of irregularities in the process, Marcello Nóbrega defended the price-based adherence model as the most suitable for the GDF (Federal District Government) and said that the vehicle maintenance contract is economical and serves the government's interests very well.

Representatives Wasny de Roure (PT) and Cristiano Araújo (PSD) questioned the speed with which the company was hired and asked several questions about the process. However, in most of his responses, Nóbrega only stated that he was not responsible for the various stages of the hiring process.

Marcello Nóbrega joined the government in March 2015 as the sub-secretary of property administration within the Secretariat of Administration, but shortly afterward he was transferred to the sub-secretariat of general administration within the Secretariat of Health and, soon after, to the sub-secretariat of logistics and infrastructure within the same department.