Federal Police probe into deposits to João Santana accounts overseas
The latest phase of Operation Car Wash, launched today (Feb. 22), saw eight arrest warrants issued, among them those of adman João Santana and his wife Mônica Moura. The couple is currently in the Dominican Republic. The orders determine they are to remain in custody temporarily.
In an interview at the Federal Police Superintendent's Office in Paraná state, investigators reported that the 23rd phase of Operation Car Wash kicked off in September, after an inquest was opened. The police seized documents kept in the house of engineer Zwi Skornicki, who works for shipbuilder Keppel Fels, in which Santana and his wife give instructions on sending money to their accounts overseas. One of the documents is signed by Mônica, with the surname Santana, and was sent to a group of Odebrecht employees responsible for the firm's payments abroad. Allegedly, the transfers were ultimately directed at bank accounts in Switzerland and were made from financial institutions in the US. Zwi Skornicki faced his preventive arrest today as part of the operation.
According to the police, Mônica sent a reference contract previously used as a model to simulate services. Even though the document had been scribbled over in a bid to conceal information, experts were able to identify its content, increasing the amount of evidence and paving the way for future investigation fronts.
Taking these data as a starting point, the police lodged a cooperation request with the US government. “That allowed us to track down these supposedly illegal payments abroad in João Santana's secret account—payments coming from Odebrecht and engineer Zwi Skornicki. Such payments are suspected of having arisen from electoral services provided to the PT [Workers' Party],” said police commissioner Filipe Pace.
João Santana spearheaded the re-election campaign of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2006, and those of current President Rousseff, in both 2010 and 2014.
In the crackdown, officers identified transfers via Citibank in London. In November, 2015, at a request made by the federal police, Citibank provided partial data revealing four deposits adding up to $3 million, from 2012 to 2013, to accounts reported as João Santana's. The first deposit, dated April 13, amounts to $500 thousand, followed by a $1 million one, plus a $700 thousand transfer, and later on another $800 thousand. “These deposits were made by offshore firms involved in the Odebrecht scheme,” Pace added.
The police commissioner went on to mention other important deposits. “From September 2013 to November 2014, an offshore company made nine $500 thousand deposits, totaling $4.5 million.”
Investigators were also startled to find that the deposits were based on counterfeit contracts in order to justify the transfers. According to the police, João Santana and Mônica Moura dealt directly with the spokesperson of Petrobras's middle man for bribes, who made the deposits for the electoral campaigns. “It all leads us to believe that the two knew about the counterfeit contracts,” Pace said.
Defense
João Santana's press office released a note announcing that, early this afternoon, Fábio Toufic, his lawyer, would clarify his client's position regarding the operations initiated today. The communication further states that Santa and Mônica Moura will return to Brazil and report to the authorities.
The 23rd stage of Operation Car Wash got started this morning, with law enforcement agents serving preventive and temporary arrest orders in the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador. The new phase was dubbed acarajé, a Brazilian dish whose name was used by some of the suspects as a code to refer to money.
Odebrecht
Company Odebrecht, targeted by the operation, confirmed today (Feb. 22) through a press release that federal police agents conducted raids at the firm's offices in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, with a view to serving search and seizure warrants. It further announces that it is “at the service of the authorities to collaborate with the ongoing operation.”
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Federal Police probe into deposits to João Santana accounts overseas
