General Comptroller’s Office applies and mantains anti-corruption sanctions to six companies for illicit acts against the Public Administration
27/03/2023
In brief
On March 20, 2023, decisions of the Minister of the General Comptroller’s Office (CGU) for applying or maintaining sanctions for corruption acts of six companies were published, reaching the amount of BRL 9.7 million.
The sanctions were applied in the scope of Administrative Liability Proceedings based on Law No. 12,846/2013 (Anti-Corruption Law) through different investigations which reinforce CGU’s commitment to promoting public integrity and consolidating the understanding that private companies must refrain from adopting practices that are contrary to the regulations governing the conduct of public agents.
Main aspects
| Operation Gaveteiro CGU investigations revealed that Qubo Tecnologia e Sistemas Ltda. and Telemikro Telecomunicações Informática e Microeletrônica Ltda. presented proposals in a bidding process to unduly assist the company Business To Technology Consultoria e Análise de Sistemas Ltda. (already previously penalized by CGU) to win the Bidding Procedure No. 24/2016. According to the decisions, the practice characterized fraud on the competitive nature of the bidding by raising the prices of the softwares to be acquired by Public Administration. The following sanctions were applied: Qubo Tecnologia e Sistemas Ltda. -Prohibition to bid or contract with the Federal Government, for a period of 4 (four) years; -Fines in the amount of BRL 299,260.38; -Extraordinary publication of the sanctioning administrative decision. Telemikro Telecomunicações Informática e Microeletrônica Ltda. -Prohibition to bid or contract with the Federal Government, for a period of 3 (three) years; -Fines in the amount of BRL 58.190,05; -Extraordinary publication of the sanctioning administrative decision. Payment of bribes to an auditor of the Federal Revenue The case investigated irregularities in a contract entered into by the Casa da Moeda do Brasil for the development of the Beverage Production Control System, ordered by the Federal Revenue. The contract was entered into with the company SICPA Brasil Indústria de Tintas e Sistemas, which entered into a Leniency Agreement with the CGU in 2021. The investigation found that SICPA was responsible for paying undue advantages to the former Federal Revenue auditor responsible for supervising the contracting made by Casa da Moeda do Brasil. To pay the bribe, SICPA used the company CFC Consulting Group INC., already sanctioned by the CGU, with whom it had a representative agreement The amounts received from SICPA by CFC Consulting were then transferred to the company MDI Consultoria Empresarial Ltda. The investigation identified that MDI Consultoria was owned by relatives of the former Federal Revenue auditor, demonstrating that the company was actually a mere intermediary in the scheme to facilitate the payment of bribes to the then public agent. The scheme allowed the payment of at least R$ 30 million to the former tax auditor. According to the published decision, CGU rejected the reconsideration request of MDI Consultoria Empresarial Ltda, maintaining the application of the following sanctions:Declaration of disreputable status for bidding or contracting with the Public Administration;Fines in the amount of BRL 9,175,000.00;Extraordinary publication of the sanctioning administrative decision.As the abuse of rights in the use of the legal entity was characterized, the decision extends to the personal assets of the former Federal Revenue auditor and his wife. Confidential tax information The investigation resulted from the information gathered within the scope of Operation Spy, conducted by Federal Police and Federal Revenue in October 2017. The commercialization of data extracted from the Federal Revenue’s internal systems by its employees was identified, including data related to foreign trade activity. The data was sold to intermediary companies and passed to companies that perform export or import activities, including EHD. According to the published decision, CGU rejected the request for reconsideration by EHD – Assessoria e Participações Ltda., maintaining the application of a fine in the amount of R$ 105,448.54. Assistance in paying bribes to parliamentarians The company Soundzilla made payments in favor of the “front companies” of former parliamentarian André Vargas, Limiar Consultoria e Assessoria Ltda. and LSI Soluções em Serviços Empresariais Ltda. The investigation determined that the payments were actually made at the request of the company Borghi Lowe as a bribe for it to win bidding processes carried out by Caixa Econômica Federal and the Ministry of Health, whose objects were the contracting of publicity and advertising services. The companies Mullenlowe and FCF Brasil, which succeeded Borgh Lowe, admitted their liability for the acts and entered into a Leniency Agreement with the Comptroller General of the Union in 2018. Based on the leniency agreement, the CGU investigation was expanded to other legal entities involved in the offense. In the most recent decision, CGU rejected the reconsideration request of one of them, the company Soundzilla Music Monsters Produções Audiovisuais Ltda. Due to the refusal, the following sanctions were maintained: -Declaration of disreputable status for bidding or contracting with the Public Administration; -Fines in the amount of BRL 15,328.04; -Extraordinary publication of the conviction. Fraud in VALEC contracts CGU decided to reject the request for reconsideration submitted by the company Construtora Barbosa Mello S/A, in relation to the original decision, of August 2021, in the sense of applying the sanction of declaration of disreputable status to bid or contract with the Public Administration. The investigation showed that the company participated in collusion with other participants in a consortium, aiming to defraud the competitive nature of bids promoted by VALEC Engenharia, Construções e Ferrovias S/A. |
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