Electoral Court justice orders probe into Rousseff re-election campaign supplier

Superior Electoral Court (TSE) Justice Gilmar Mendes has asked the Public Prosecutor's Office in São Paulo to investigate alleged non-compliance involving a business that provided services to President Dilma Rousseff's re-election campaign in 2014.

In his ruling made Tuesday (Aug. 25), the justice said the TSE Election Accounts Auditing Office found that a business named after Angela Maria do Nascimento invoiced Rousseff's campaign committee for $452,600, but there was no proof that the services were provided at all.

The justice said the firm did not check in any materials, products, or services. The invoices were issued between August and September 2014, the period that the company remained active.

Contacted by the São Paulo Finance Department, Angela Maria do Nascimento said she opened a small business at the request of a marketing firm called Embalac as an attempt to avoid unlisting from Simples Nacional, a federal simplified tax system for very small businesses with annual earnings below a specified limit. Embalac makes advertising materials such as flags and banners, and provided services to Rousseff's Workers' Party (PT) during the campaign.

In a statement, lawyer Flávio Caetano, who acted as legal counsel for the president' campaign, said the campaign committee provided proof of the services to the TSE and the court ultimately approved the election accounts of the president.

But the TSE decision awarded in December 2014 was an approval with comments.

Translated by Mayra Borges