MPPE operation targets fraud in tenders and misappropriation of resources in Serrita City Hall Ascom MPPE The Public Ministry of Pernambuco (MPPE) carried out, on the morning of this Tuesday (7), an operation to dismantle a criminal scheme structured to defraud bids and divert public resources through administrative contracts directed to Serrita City Hall, in Sertão. Named Via Direta, the action carried out 21 home search and seizure warrants in Pernambuco and Ceará. Court orders were also executed for the immediate suspension of contracts and payments and for the decree of preventive detention. According to the MPPE, the precautionary measures were authorized by the Salgueiro Guarantee Court. ?: Download the g1 app to see news from Petrolina and the region in real time and for free During the operation, around R$ 106 thousand in real, euro, dollar, Swiss franc and Argentine peso banknotes were seized, as well as weapons, ammunition, documents and electronic equipment. The material will be made available to the Sertão Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco) for continued investigations. Prosecutors identified that “the scheme presents a criminal continuity that crosses different managements and financial years”. Also according to the MPPE, “to hide the money trail, the municipality provided only partial information to the Court of Auditors of the State of Pernambuco (TCE-PE) and omitted the data requested by the judicial authorities”.
MPPE operation targets fraud in tenders and diversion of resources in Serrita City Hall
MPPE operation targets fraud in tenders and misappropriation of resources in Serrita City Hall Ascom MPPE The Public Ministry of Pernambuco (MPPE) carried out, on the morning of this Tuesday (7), an operation to...
Faced with the risk of destruction of evidence and the continued diversion of resources, the Court ordered the immediate blocking of contractual bonds that are still active, which exceed R$1.3 million in pending works. Access and technical expertise on seized computers, media and cell phones were also authorized. Action Investigations show that, in 2021 and 2022, the municipality abusively and recurrently used direct contracting through exemption from bidding. The MPPE stated that “the municipal management was based on mistaken foundations to try to frame the contractual objects in a false pandemic emergency situation”. Direct hiring rates in Serrita caught the attention of control bodies as they were much higher than those in neighboring cities. According to the Public Ministry, “in 2021, bidding exemptions and non-requirements reached almost 25% of the total budget contracted by municipal management, while in 2022 the rate was around 19%”. According to Gaeco, the main targets of the operation are corporations that act as "paper companies". In the first cycle investigated (2021 and 2022), companies hired without having specific registration for vehicle rental and school transport earned more than R$3.8 million from the municipality. In one of the school transport contracts, the original value of payments jumped from approximately R$385,000 to more than R$2.6 million, a seven-fold increase. There is also evidence of collusion between firms in the region to simulate competition and give the appearance of legality to disputes. The audit revealed that the scheme continued to expand between 2024 and 2026. During this period, contracts migrated to structural sectors, such as urban cleaning (with contracts worth around R$1.7 million) and civil engineering works, such as paving and renovation of squares. The headquarters reported by the companies investigated were identified as fictitious, operating at addresses linked to relatives and without an autonomous administrative unit. The MPPE said that the documentary analysis found serious chronological fraud, such as contracts signed with impossible retroactive dates and later year numbers to try to regularize payments without prior contractual coverage. Operation Via Direta had the support of the Civil and Military Police of Pernambuco and Gaeco of the Public Ministry of Ceará (MPCE). g1 contacted Serrita City Hall's communications department and, until the last update of this report, had not received a response. Videos: most watched from Sertão de PE
