Court orders R$2.4 million returned to OAS from the sale of the Guarujá triplex

The Federal Court ordered that OAS Empreendimentos receive all the money obtained from the sale of the Guarujá triplex, a property that was attributed to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) during Lava Jato. The decision was made by substitute federal judge Marcelo Gentil Monteiro, from the 12th Federal Criminal Court of the Federal District, and was signed last Thursday (5).

The money has been deposited in a judicial account since the sale of the apartment. According to information contained in the process, the balance reached R$ 2,428,275.78. The decision determines the release of the entire updated balance, therefore, the amount to be transferred may be different.

OAS still needs to inform the court of its bank details to receive the money. The company will have five days to do this. Afterwards, Caixa Econômica Federal must be notified to carry out the transfer.

The apartment, in Condomínio Solaris, in Guarujá, on the coast of São Paulo, was auctioned after being the target of a Lava Jato action against Lula. Years later, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) annulled the decisions taken in the process by the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba.

After the case was sent to the Federal Court in the Federal District, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) asked for the case to be archived, among other reasons, because the legal deadline for the accusations to result in punishment had passed. The request was accepted by the Court.

By now authorizing the release of the money to OAS, Marcelo Gentil Monteiro stated that, with the filing of the action and the annulment of previous decisions, the justification that kept the money blocked no longer exists.

The Prosecutor's Office itself agreed with OAS's request. According to the decision, the MPF considered that the company had proven to be the owner of the property and that there was no longer any reason to keep the resources withheld.

The Court also consulted other courts that had cases that could affect the property or the money from its sale. According to the decision, everyone reported that there were no longer any impediments to releasing the amounts.

Property was registered in the name of OAS

One of the points considered by the Court is that the triplex was formally registered in the name of OAS Empreendimentos. The property's registration in the Guarujá Property Registry indicated the company as the owner.

At Lava Jato, the apartment had been considered the product of crime and ended up being blocked by the courts. The prosecution's thesis was that Lula had received undue advantages from OAS, including the reservation and renovations of the triplex, in exchange for favoring the contractor in contracts with Petrobras.

Lula always denied owning the apartment and also denied having received the property as a bribe.

Subsequently, the STF declared that the Federal Court of Paraná did not have jurisdiction to judge the case and annulled the decisions taken in the process. The action was sent to the Federal Court of the Federal District and ended up archived.

In the new decision, the judge states that these changes removed the basis that had allowed the Court to keep the property and, subsequently, the money from its sale blocked.

Also according to the process, the triplex and the amounts arising from its sale are not part of Léo Pinheiro's collaboration agreement nor OAS's leniency agreement.

From auction to draw

The triplex is located in apartment 164-A of Condomínio Solaris, in Praia das Asturias, in Guarujá. The property has 215 m² spread over three floors, with four bedrooms, five bathrooms, elevator, barbecue and swimming pool.

In 2018, when then judge Sérgio Moro ordered its sale at auction, the apartment had been judicially valued at R$2.2 million.

The property ended up being sold and, years later, it was acquired by businessman Fernando Gontijo. In 2022, he promoted a raffle for the apartment, valued at the time at R$3 million.

The winner was businessman Antônio Tarcísio Mendes da Nóbrega. Upon receiving the keys, he told g1 that he intended to sell the apartment because he would not be able to afford the property's maintenance costs.