Delegate Fábio Baena Martin, civil police officer Marcelo Roberto Ruggieri and investigators Eduardo Lopes Monteiro, Marcelo Marques de Souza and Rogério de Almeida Felício, from the São Paulo Civil Police, all targets of arrest warrants in Operation Tacitus, allegedly negotiated bribes in order of R$30 million with members of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), according to the investigation.
The defense of Fábio Martins and Eduardo Monteiro states that the facts have already been investigated and archived by the Court and classified the arrests as arbitrary (read the full note at the end of the article). Lawyer Anderson Minichillo, who represents Marcelo Ruggieri, said he has not yet had access to the records and the reasons that justified the arrest.
The investigation led judge Paulo Fernando Deroma de Mello, from the 1st Court of Tax Crimes, Criminal Organization and Laundering of Goods and Valuables in the Capital, to block the assets of the agents and others under investigation up to the limit of the same R$30 million .
“Precautionary patrimonial constriction may aim to prevent the continuation of the commission of crimes and the illicit enrichment of those being investigated, as well as ensuring the future loss of assets and the repair of damages caused, including in the form of eventual collective damage, possibly also serving to guarantee public and economic order, preventing those under investigation from persisting in their criminal practices”, explained the judge.
Operation Tacitus is based on the award-winning collaboration agreement of businessman Vinicius Gritzbach, carried out in the arrivals area of Guarulhos airport on November 8th. He reported a corruption and extortion scheme within the Civil Police.
Delegate Fábio Baena Martin is suspected of using his position to shield PCC criminals from investigations in exchange for bribes. Payments would be made not only in cash, but also through luxury watches and even a farm, which would have been transferred to him and Eduardo Monteiro.
Monteiro is the nephew of the General Inspector of the Civil Police, Rosemeire Monteiro de Francisco Ibanez. According to the investigation, to allies, the police officer implied that, due to his family relationship, he did not fear disciplinary investigations.
In one of the conversations obtained in the investigation, Eduardo Monteiro even states that he would be arrested if the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf) analyzed his financial transactions.
The evolution of the assets of the Civil Police chief and agents caught the attention of investigators. According to the Public Ministry, the assets they accumulate are not compatible with the salaries they receive as public servants.
Another person allegedly involved in the scheme is police officer Marcelo Roberto Ruggieri. The Public Prosecutor’s Office claims that he has a “close connection” with the PCC and even produced a false document to help criminals from the faction.
Also arrested were lawyer Ahmed Hassan Saleh, known as Mude, and businessman Robinson Granger de Moura, known as Molly, and Ademir Pereira de Andrade, all suspected of laundering PCC money.
When authorizing the operation and ordering the arrests, judge Paulo Fernando Deroma de Mello stated that no criminal faction can achieve the power of the PCC without the “effective participation of public agents, notably those linked to the country’s public security”.
“If the elements collected so far are confirmed in the ongoing investigation, it can be said, without any doubt, that Brazil has become a Narco-State”, wrote the judge in the decision.
What the defenses say
The defense made up of Police Chief Dr. Fábio Baena Martin and investigator Eduardo Monteiro, indignant, clarifies that the arrest carried out today is not necessary, appropriate and constitutes blatant arbitrariness.
It is unacceptable in Brazil to trivialize the right to freedom, decreeing media arrest, without contemporaneity, and the most serious, for facts that have already been investigated and archived by the Court, on the recommendation of the Public Ministry itself.
The puerile word of a mythomaniac, without any new element of proof, could never motivate such an exceptional measure, affronting the status dignitatis and libertatis of our constituents. It should also be clarified that both appeared spontaneously to be heard and never caused any embarrassment to the repeated investigations.
Furthermore, the defense denounces the very serious fact that Delegate Baena was not given the right and opportunity to contact his lawyers informing them of his arrest and the execution of the search warrant, which only reinforces the illegality reported.
The defense is taking all measures to immediately put an end to the spurious coercion found.
Daniel Bialski, Bruno Borragine, Luís Felipe D’Alóia, Gustavo Alvarez Cruz, Daniele Casteluci Oliveira and André Bialski
The defense of lawyer Ahmed Hassan Saleh received the news of his temporary arrest with immense surprise.
This content was originally published in Arrested police officers negotiated R$30 million in bribes with the PCC, says investigation on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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