Health

Federal Police fight fraud in the purchase of covid-19 tests in Rio

Warrants are served in seven cities in the state of Rio

Published on 14/12/2021 - 07:27 By Vitor Abdala - Repórter da Agência Brasil - Rio de Janeiro

The Federal Police (PF) is carrying out today (14) an operation against suspects of defrauding bids for the purchase of rapid test kits for the detection of covid-19 in the state of Rio de Janeiro . Operation Reativo fulfills 26 search and seizure warrants issued by the 4th Federal Court of São João de Meriti.

The PF did not disclose the municipalities where the fraud took place, but said it is serving warrants in seven cities: Rio de Janeiro , Japeri, Laje de Muriaé, Nilópolis, São João de Meriti, Nova Iguaçu and Mesquita.

The investigation began in 2020, after the Apneuse operation, which found overprices in public bidding processes by the city of Japeri. According to the PF, three companies acted in collusion to direct a bid worth R$ 2 million.

The Federal Police also found that these companies are linked to bidding processes in several cities in the state of Rio.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.

Edition: Kleber Sampaio