The operation investigating the alleged involvement of Deolane Bezerra and Gusttavo Lima in a money laundering scheme involving illegal gambling will enter a new phase.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pernambuco asked the state’s Civil Police to carry out “some additional investigations” to support the accusation against the suspects in the investigation.
The MP’s note was published last Friday (20). After the publication, the Court revoked the request for the country singer’s arrest and accepted a habeas corpus from the influencer.
According to the professor of Criminal Procedural Law Durval Lins, the MP prosecutor still needs to specify to the Court the steps that need to be taken.
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office understood that the investigation does not have all the requirements for a complaint and asked the police chief to complete the investigation. Now, the agency will specify the steps to be taken to the judge, who will grant the decision and send it to the police to continue with the process,” explained the lawyer.
The doctor stressed that Deolane and Gusttavo Lima, as well as the others mentioned in the police investigation, are only suspects for now. They will only be charged or reported when, after the investigation is concluded, the Public Prosecutor’s Office sends a complaint to the courts.
The Pernambuco Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that the request for new investigations does not cancel the maintenance of some measures already imposed.
However, the agency stressed that the deferred arrests should be replaced by other precautionary measures, since the time needed to carry out the procedures would imply illegal constraint of the suspects.
Normally, the police have 30 days to conclude the investigation. But according to the lawyer, it is likely that the deadline will be extended to up to 120 days, due to the number of people under investigation and the amount of money involved.
In a statement, the Civil Police of Pernambuco informs that all judicial determinations, resulting from Operation Integration, will be fulfilled by the police forces.
Controversial decision
Judge Andréa Calado Cruz, of the 12th Criminal Court of Recife, did not follow the ministry’s opinion when ordering the arrest of Deolane and Gusttavo Lima. For Durval Lins, the orders were not correct.
“Since they are being investigated for money laundering, other measures could have been imposed to prevent the alleged practice, such as blocking accounts, unavailability of assets, electronic ankle bracelets or limiting internet access,” he commented.
The expert believes that the suspects were not going to flee the country and that preventive detention was unnecessary. “The criminal process presumes innocence, not guilt,” he said.
He also highlighted that it is normal for a male and female judge to make different judicial decisions.
Judge Eduardo Guilliod Maranhão, of the Court of Justice of Pernambuco, revoked this Tuesday (24) the preventive detention of singer Gusttavo Lima. He also suspended the seizure of the artist’s passport and firearm registration certificate, as well as any firearms possession permit.
The judge was also responsible for the release of Deolane Bezerra, who left the Buíque Women’s Penal Colony, in the Agreste region of Pernambuco, on the morning of Tuesday (24).
See the full note from the Public Ministry of Pernambuco:
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pernambuco, after a thorough analysis of the records of the investigation called “Operation Integration”, concluded that, at this time, in order to support the formal accusation, some additional steps would be necessary to those already carried out by the Judicial Police of the State of Pernambuco.
The request for new investigations, detailed in the body of the statement already filed in the respective PJE records, does not disregard the maintenance of some precautionary measures already granted and imposed, without prejudice to others being able to be applied to the specific case. Thus, in the opinion of the MPPE, the procedural acts consisting of searches and seizures of assets and values, as well as their unavailability, must remain intact.
Obviously, the preventive arrests already granted and executed must be replaced by other precautionary measures as provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the time lapse required to carry out the new procedures would inevitably imply illegal constraint.
In order to clarify, in a convincing manner, the facts under investigation and clearly individualize the conduct of each of the investigated parties, enabling the filing of the appropriate complaint, it is necessary to preserve the confidentiality of the investigations to be undertaken, which is why there will be no further statement on the matter by the MPPE at this time.”
What the defenses say
After the Court revoked his arrest warrant, Gusttavo Lima’s defense published a note on social media on Tuesday afternoon (24). Read in full.
The defense of singer Gusttavo Lima receives with great tranquility and a sense of justice the decision handed down this afternoon by TJPE Judge Dr. Eduardo Guilliod Maranhão, who granted the habeas corpus.
The decision of the judge of origin established a series of presumptions contrary to everything that has already been presented in the records, even contradicting the statement of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the case.
Gusttavo Lima’s relationship with the companies under investigation was strictly for the use of his image and the sale of an aircraft. Everything was done legally, through bank transactions, declarations to the competent authorities and registration with ANAC. These contracts had several compliance clauses and were signed long before it was possible to know about the existence of any ongoing investigation.
Gusttavo Lima has and always has had a clean life and a career dedicated to music and his fans. In due course, legal measures will be taken to obtain a minimum of compensation for all the damage caused to his image.
Deolane Bezerra, upon leaving the Rodolfo Aureliano Forum after signing her release this Wednesday (25), declared that she believes in justice and is innocent.
“I am innocent, I cannot talk about the process, it is under judicial secrecy, but what I can say is that I do publicity and I am innocent. Justice will be served.”
The lawyer stated that “many lies have been spread” and that judge Eduardo Guilliod Maranhão “saw the blatant illegalities of the process”. The influencer was arrested for about two weeks.
This content was originally published in With Gusttavo Lima and Deolane in the crosshairs, see the next steps of the investigation on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
