Brazilian students rally against school lunch fund misappropriation

Students from state and vocational schools blocked the Paulista Avenue today while staging a protest demanding improvements in education and the punishment of those accountable for the siphoning off of funds earmarked for school lunches in São Paulo.

A task force formed by the Civil Police and the Public Prosecution Office is currently investigating a fraud scheme in the purchase of school lunches by city and state authorities. The probes are being conducted as part of Operação Alba Branca (“Operation White Dawn,” in a literal translation), launched on January 19. The wrongdoings target 20 municipalities in São Paulo state.

According to GAECO, a special group for fighting organized crime in the city of Ribeirão Preto, the fraud scheme, which took place from 2013 to 2015, added up to $1.98 million, of which $198 thousand were used in the payment of bribes and illicit bonuses.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira