The Municipal Council of Foz do Iguaçu (CMFI), in western Paraná, is at the center of yet another controversy with evidence of corruption among its parliamentarians.
In circulation on social networks since last Sunday (20), the recording of a conversation between journalist Luciano Alves and marketing manager Felipe Menger indicates that the practice of “cracking”, characterized by the transfer of salaries from advisors to public agents, took place in the office of councilor Admilson Galhardo (Republicans).
listen to the audio
In the beginning up to 20 seconds and from 3 minutes to 3 minutes and 40 seconds, ex-advisor denounces “crack” scheme
“They made all this fuss, with the councilor earning a sort of ‘match’ with an advisor, just to get (money) from the advisor, you know? But cracking is a crime. There’s no conversation, got it? It’s corruption”, denounces Felipe when revealing his experience within the municipal legislature.
:: STF maintains Flávio Bolsonaro’s privileged forum in the case of the ‘cracked’ ::
A little over 20 years old, Felipe Menger arrived at the City Council in August 2020 by indication of Admilson Galhardo, affiliated with the PL at the time, to perform the function of “Parliamentary Advisor PL5”, next to the office of the then councilman Elizeu Liberato (PL ).
“My experience within the Chamber was short, in the short period everything that was wrong to be done was done within many cabinets… it is not something exclusive to councilor A or B… but of course, because it was a term in which I was involved was more wide open in my perception”, replied the former advisor, highlighting his performance with councilor Galhardo. When questioned, Felipe did not respond to the report by the Brasil de Fato PR the amount he would have supposedly returned to Galhardo.
Agreement
In addition to acting as a direct advisor to Elizeu, the marketing professional also worked in parallel during the 2020 election campaign for Galhardo. Wanted by the report, Elizeu Liberato explained the situation that led him to appoint an advisor in his office who worked professionally in the campaign of another candidate.
“Felipe was appointed to work in my office and was appointed by colleague Galhardo, who was the first substitute in our party, the PL. We had a commitment that the first alternate could assume an advisory role or appoint the advisor (…). I only fulfilled the pre-election commitment by appointing Galhardo as an advisor and, later, Felipe Menger, who was nominated by him”, reveals the former councilor when confirming that he knew about Felipe’s role in Galhardo’s election.
At the end of the election that year, Elizeu Liberato was not reelected. Admilson Galhardo, on the other hand, managed to win one of the 15 seats in the Iguaçu Legislature in his new party, the Republicans. After the start of the new legislature, Galhardo maintained the appointment of Felipe, who continued in office until June 2021.
Also read: Cracks and Cracks
A survey carried out based on information from the CMFI Transparency Portal reveals that between August 2020 and June 2021, Felipe received BRL 83,091.66 from the public coffers, of which BRL 39,172.14 was paid through the first appointment, and other BRL $ R$ 43,919.52 already through the newly elected Galhardo.
During the conversation with journalist Luciano Alves, when mentioning Galhardo’s practice of cracking, Felipe shared that because he refused to keep paying the transfers to the councilor, he ended up being exonerated.
“I was always charging him. ‘Galhardo, you don’t need that, man (…)’. But he knew, in his head, he still thinks I was a risk, you know?”. In another excerpt of the audio, Felipe says that after leaving the parliamentary advisory, Galhardo invited his companion to hold the same position. “My wife who took my place there, she also deals with marketing (…). Then she came in and stayed for a month.”
The statement that Felipe’s wife would have been appointed by Galhardo and stayed for a period of one month was confirmed by the report after a new consultation with Portal da Transparência. Together, the couple received, in ten months, R$ 95,555.47 as parliamentary advisors.
Advisor confirms audio
To verify the authenticity of the audio, the report of the Brasil de Fato PR contacted Felipe Menger via WhatsApp. After being informed about the content of the matter, the former advisor confirmed his accusation about the practice of “cracking” in the City Council.
The other side
Through its press office, the City Council stated “that it is unaware of the alleged practice mentioned by the former advisor and that it condemns any act in this regard. As for the measures that should be taken to investigate the complaints made, he points out that “he has not yet received any official notification for him to express himself on the matter”.
Galhardo said, through his lawyer, that he denies the accusations. The representative of the councilor stressed that he will take appropriate steps to prove his client’s innocence.
Source: BdF Paraná
Editing: Frédi Vasconcelos
