The City of Belford Roxo published this Wednesday (10), in the Official Gazette, the dismissal of the municipal secretary of Education, Denis de Souza Macedo, suspected of fraud in the municipality’s school meals. In the same document, the executive also announced the name of Bruno Vinícius da Silva de Oliveira as the new secretary of Education.
The decision comes after Macedo’s arrest by the Federal Police (PF) this Tuesday (9), as part of an operation investigating a corruption scheme in the National School Feeding Program (PNAE).
The operation resulted in the seizure of more than R$2 million in cash from the homes of search and seizure targets. 300,000 euros (approximately R$1.8 million) were found in the home of a businessman in a luxury condominium in Barra da Tijuca, West Zone of Rio, and R$360,000 in the home of an employee of the Municipal Department of Education (Semed/BR) in Nova Iguaçu, Baixada Fluminense.
According to the PF, the fraudulent scheme involved the embezzlement of approximately R$6 million, with Denis Macedo identified as the main leader.
The frauds were carried out with the participation of companies that provided school meals and their directors, who received inflated payments based on false documentation. These payments were intended for companies contracted to supply food to the schools.
The investigation revealed that, in addition to the misappropriation of public funds, there was the payment of undue benefits by companies supplying school meals to municipal public officials. These officials used money laundering mechanisms to conceal the illicit origin of the amounts received.
The Federal Police operation carried out a total of 21 search and seizure warrants, highlighting the magnitude of the corruption scheme that negatively impacted the school lunch supply system in the region.
In a statement, the City of Belford Roxo declared “that it did not have access to the case files, but trusts in the actions of the Justice Department”.
“The municipal administration values honesty and transparency. The City Hall hopes that the facts will be clarified as quickly as possible,” the statement said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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