Judge Bruno Bodart, from the 3rd Public Treasury Court of the Capital, cleared former governor Sérgio Cabral of the accusation of administrative impropriety in relation to the absence of a bidding process and the conclusion of three additive terms in the contracting of the contractor RioTrilhos for the integration works of the Line 4 with Metro Line 1.
Read more: How can Sérgio Cabral walk around with an ankle bracelet after being sentenced to 425 years in prison?
Also acquitted were the former CEO of RioTrilhos Sebastião Rodrigues Pinto Neto, the former engineering director of the same company Bento José de Lima and CBO Engenharia Ltda.
In addition, the magistrate evaluated that there were no elements to convict Bento José de Lima, Sebastião Rodrigues Pinto Neto, the former director-president of Rio Trilhos Tatiana Vaz Carius, the engineering director of RioTrilhos Heitor Lopes de Sousa Júnior, the Air Ferreira and Nelson de Paula Ferreira Júnior for administrative impropriety for the alleged “overpricing resulting from excessive prices compared to the market”.
The judge also acquitted, in addition to Bento, Heitor and CBPO Engenharia Ltda, the servants and inspectors of the contract Luiz Reis Pinto Moreira, Eduardo Peixoto D’Aguiar, João Batista de Paula Júnior, Marco Antônio Lima Rocha and Francisco de Assis Torres – all by RioTrilhos.
They were accused of measuring a quantity greater than that actually carried out in the supply and application of shotcrete, incorrect measurement of services for spreading and compacting materials destined for the outpost and overbilling resulting from improper measurement of transport to the outpost.
Read too: Government of RJ is accused of giving in to blackmail by CCR Barcas; standoff over transport continues
The state Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP-RJ) also wanted the return of approximately R$ 39.5 million to the public coffers – a request that was also denied.
corruption scandals
In 2019, when he was still in prison, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro said in a statement to the Public Prosecutor’s Office that the amount spent on the works on line 4 of the subway “could have been lower, if there had not been a combination with the companies”. He stated that former Secretary of the Civil House Régis Fichner received R$ 5 million in bribes.
In 2017, the MP-RJ pointed out that irregularities in the contract for the works on Line 4, which connects the south zone of Rio to Barra da Tijuca, cost more than R$ 3.17 billion to public coffers. According to promoter Liana Barros Cardozo, the state government’s contribution to the work, which cost around BRL 10 billion, increased the value of the original contract by 675%, “an unprecedented amount in terms of overpricing for public works in the country” , according to Liana.
“The original contract provided for the state’s participation at a level of 43%, but, after the contractual changes, the participation in the total scope of the work reached 89%”, said the promoter. “This contribution of resources generated a huge increase in debt for the state, which today is experiencing a situation of collapse.”
In addition to the changes to the contract, made illegally, at least 14 situations of overbilling and overpricing were identified in the investigation. Due to these irregularities, eight contract inspectors became defendants in the lawsuit at the time.
Source: BdF Rio de Janeiro
Editing: Eduardo Miranda
