02/11/2023 – 20:56
The Maranhão Court sentenced councilor Josibeliano Chagas Farias, ‘Ceará’, former president of the Chamber of Açailância, a municipality with 115 thousand inhabitants located 445 kilometers from the capital, to 12 years’ imprisonment, in a closed regime, for the crime of embezzlement. São Luís. The former head of the Administrative Department of the Chamber, Regina Maria da Silva e Sousa, was also sentenced. She received 12 years in prison. Both can appeal freely.
The Estadão report made contact with the Açailândia Chamber and asked for a demonstration from ‘Ceará’ and Regina. The space is open.
The sentence was signed on the 27th by judge Selecina Henrique Locatelli, head of the 2nd Court of the District of Açailândia.
The defendants were also sentenced to 363 fine days, each fine day being set at five times the minimum wage in force at the time of the incident, increased by three times for the former president of the Chamber, and twice the minimum wage of the time, to the former head of the Administrative Department.
In the same sentence, the representative of the company ANM da Silva Supermercados Marcos Paulo Andrade Silva was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and to pay 155 fine days, with each fine day set at three times the minimum wage at the time of the fact.
According to the complaint from the state Public Prosecutor’s Office, formulated in September 2018 by prosecutor Glauce Mara Lima Malheiros, the councilor and the former head of the Administrative Department of the Chamber diverted R$ 281,823.07 from public coffers, ‘for their own benefit or that of others’ – resulting from contracts signed between the Chamber and the supermarket.
According to the Communication Coordination of the Public Ministry of Maranhão, the object of the contract was the acquisition of consumables, food, disposables, cleaning materials, hygiene materials and kitchen utensils. The other was intended for the purchase of office materials (stationery), both to meet the Chamber’s demand, in the 2017 financial year.
Investigations
In both cases, investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office ‘pointed out a series of irregularities, from the carrying out of the bidding processes to the supposed delivery of the products’.
The office supplies contract, for example, included items such as 10 boxes of computer disks, 1,000 pencils and 50,000 photocopies.
An inspection by the Prosecutor’s Office found that the supplier only had two printers for domestic use (which would be used to supply 50,000 photocopies) and, of the items contained in the contract, only had pencils, pens and erasers in stock.
Another inspection at the Chamber’s headquarters was carried out to verify the existence of the durable goods supposedly acquired, such as 10 plastic soap dishes, which were not found. There were only two, old ones, despite the Municipal Legislative headquarters having seven bathrooms.
Of a total of 20 staplers, none were found and of the three paper shredders that would have been delivered, only one was found in use, a different model and ‘in an advanced state of use’.
Also missing were 200 nine-volt batteries, three thermos bottles, 100 fax reels, 100 floppy disks, 60 printer ribbons, cup holders, clipboards, a whiteboard, among other items.
According to the Chamber’s Financial Sector, blocks of checks – 100 were acquired – and salary receipts (6), which are also missing items, ‘have not been used for a long time, as the system is computerized’.
Also among the no longer used items, in addition to computer disks, are 60 VHS tapes.
Another point that caught the attention of the Public Ministry was the ‘exorbitant quantities’ of products purchased.
Of sugar, for example, there were three thousand kilos; of A4 paper, 3 thousand reams, which represents 1.5 million sheets; and of soft drinks, 3 thousand liters.
Comparatively, the price registration minutes of the Federal Supreme Court, with 1,738 employees and legal proceedings from all over the country, for the purchase of paper provided for four thousand reams.
In the same year, the Açailândia City Council, with around 100 employees, including councilors, reportedly purchased three thousand reams of paper.
Damage repair
Judge Selecina Henrique Locatelli, head of the 2nd Court of the District of Açailândia, also ordered the defendants, jointly and severally, to pay the amount of R$ 281,823.07 to the municipal treasury, as a minimum reparation for the damages caused by the infraction, plus correction monetary calculated by the General Inspectorate of Justice of the Court of Justice of Maranhão, as well as interest at the rate of 1% per month, both from the publication of this sentence until the actual payment.
WITH THE WORD, ‘CEARÁ’ AND REGINA
The Estadão report contacted the Açailândia Chamber and asked for a statement from councilor ‘Ceará’ and the former director of the Administrative Department. The space is open.
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