The company was not declared to the Federal Revenue Service or the TSE; the practice may constitute an electoral infraction, say experts
The candidate for Mayor of São Paulo Pablo Marcal (PRTB) claimed to be a partner of Nahuel Gomez Medina in several videos posted this year – information that is also available on Medina’s website, which sells audiovisual production courses. The problem: Marçal did not officially declare this partnership. Marçal’s participation in Medina’s company is not registered with the Federal Revenue Service or in the declaration of assets with the Electoral Court.
According to electoral rules, being a silent partner in companies may constitute electoral ideological falsehood.
According to the investigation by Public AgencyMarçal’s mayoral campaign paid R$230,000 to Medina to produce videos. Excerpts from the Electoral Court show that the payments were made this month to Medina Maker, the company’s trade name. Medina is the only registered partner of the film production company, located in Confresa, a city of 35,000 inhabitants in northeastern Mato Grosso.
According to lawyer Fernando Tozi, the case deserves special attention from the Electoral Court. “If he [Marçal] is a silent partner of the company [de Medina]we have a serious doubt as to whether we are dealing with hiring the candidate himself for the campaign. Whether he is a partner or not, depending on how all this is done, especially how this legal entity supports him, we may be faced with an express prohibition: campaign financing by a legal entity or an abuse of economic power.”he says.
For public and private law specialist Tauat Resende, the omission of information about ownership or partnership in companies, especially by candidates, can be interpreted as electoral ideological falsehood, according to the Electoral Code (Law 4,737 of 65, in article 350). “This legislation requires all candidates to declare their assets and business interests to ensure transparency. If it is proven that Marçal is a silent partner in a company and does not declare this to the Electoral Court, he may be violating electoral legislation and may be investigated by the Electoral Public Prosecutor’s Office and face sanctions, such as impeachment of his candidacy or mandate, if elected.”he says.
“In addition to violating the ban on corporate donations, this practice could be seen as fraud or money laundering, resulting in serious electoral and criminal sanctions if the intention to circumvent financing rules is proven”it says.
The report sought Marçal’s press office and the companies Medina Maker and Marshall Filmes, who did not respond until publication.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
- Medina’s company is now the 2nd largest expense in Marçal’s campaign;
- Despite saying on several occasions that he is Medina’s partner, Marçal is not registered with the production company. Candidates are required to declare their participation in companies.
“We became partners, me and this guy,” says Marçal
The relationship between Marçal and Medina is evident on the website of Marshall Filmes, which has been selling an audiovisual course for content producers since March. Right at the beginning of the page, there is a photo of the candidate next to the businessman. Medina is the one who teaches the courses. The classes range from drone operation to content creation with a cell phone. Videos show that Marçal appeared at the end of the courses to evaluate the materials produced by the students.
The page was registered in Medina’s name with an email address linked to Medina Maker. The link to the “Marshall Films Experience,” a day-long experience with Marçal sold for R$28,000, contains the CNPJ number of the company Medina Maker.
The website presents Medina as Marçal’s partner. “Today, Medina has abandoned all his ventures to become a partner with Pablo Marçal at Marshall Filmes, with the aim of serving high-level clients and creating an educational arm, capable of training a new wave of filmmakers in Brazil”says the text.
The page sells the course for R$3,564 in 12 installments. The purchase redirects to an online payment platform that was founded by Marçal himself, XGROW (Marçal had a stake in XGROW until July 2022 through his company Marçal Participações Ltda.). Marshall’s course, currently with sales closed, leaves the following message: “For questions regarding your purchase, please contact [email protected]”.
In other videoposted on Medina Maker’s TikTok in May of this year, Marçal states: “We became partners, me and this guy [Medina]. We created a film company called Marshall Films. He came up with the name, I didn’t ask for it. In other words, he is an artist.”it says.
The relationship between the two becomes even clearer in a video filmed inside a private jet, also posted in May, in which they advertise the company and, again, declare themselves partners. In this video, they discuss the need to hire more videomakers.
Medina’s production company also posted videos of Marçal on a jet ski amid the floods that devastated the Rio Grande do Sul this year. The politician went to the state, according to him, several times, to help the victims of the disaster. In the same month, the AGU (Attorney General’s Office) entered with legal action requesting the right of reply against Marçal. The action was motivated by videos in which the politician stated that the Brazilian Armed Forces were inert in the face of the calamity.
There is a video of Marçal on TikTok from March, in which he was already promoting Marshall Filmes. The video is no longer available due to restrictions imposed by the Electoral Court. In August, the Court suspended Marçal’s social media profiles for abuse of economic power. The decision found that there were payments to edit and publish cuts of the candidate’s videos. Public showed in August as cuts of Marçal’s videos that violated electoral law had already been viewed more than 825 million times on YouTube and TikTok.
In January of this year, Medina Maker’s YouTube channel, which has 2,200 subscribers, published a video by Marçal. “Call of the Generals” is a recording of a lecture by Marçal at the Portuguesa gymnasium in São Paulo. The clip is an advertisement for the guru’s “lifetime” subscription to content. The mayoral candidate has a book with that title.
Edition: Bruno Fonseca, Giovana Girardi
With information from Public Agency.
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