A group of organizations that monitor Brazilian public accounts formalized, this Tuesday (15), a request for Federal Supreme Court (STF) minister Flávio Dino to open an investigation to verify whether the names found on a paper inside the barbecue of senator Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI) are related to the "Secret Budget".
During the 5th phase of Operation Compliance Zero, the Federal Police found a list with "names" of deputies and probable "values" in a set of documents that was on the barbecue at the senator's house.
The request made by Transparency International - Brazil, Transparency International and the Associação Contas Abertas, to Minister Dino, because he is responsible for the investigation that analyzes the poor applicability of parliamentary amendments.
"The organizations [...] request that: appropriate investigative measures be adopted to determine whether the documentation seized within the scope of Operation Compliance Zero at the residence of Senator Ciro Nogueira is related to the improper distribution of resources from the federal budget, whether within the scope of the popularly known 'Secret Budget', or through other forms of appropriation incompatible with the national legal system".
At the senator's house in Brasília, an employee said she was instructed by Ciro to burn the documents found on the barbecue because they were old, "which was not done due to the lack of time on the part of the domestic employee", according to the PF.
The Federal Police report has no information about when Ciro Nogueira instructed the employee to incinerate the papers.
Among the documents found, there is a paper that only contains first names in a list titled "Chamber", accompanied by numbers that, according to the PF, "probably" are "values" (see the image below).
Paper found in Ciro Nogueira's barbecue contains 'names' of deputies and numbers that are probably 'values', according to the PF — Photo: Reproduction
The list contains the following names and numbers:
Arthur, 40;
Hugo, 10;
Elmar, 10;
Luizinho, 10;
Adolfo, 10;
Isnaldo, 10;
Diego, 5;
Altineu, 5;
Grandson, 5.
"The police team found a draft containing the name 'CAMARA', followed by several names, possibly those of parliamentarians, such as 'ARTHUR' (probably Arthur Lira), 'HUGO' (probably Hugo Motta), 'ELMAR' (probably Elmar Nascimento), 'LUIZINHO' (probably 'Doctor Luizinho'), 'ADOLFO' (probably Adolfo Viana), 'ISNALDO (probably Isnaldo Bulhões), among others capable of identification", wrote the PF.
"It should be noted that, next to each name, there are numbers and then values (probably), which requires clarification," continued the police team.
Request for investigation
Although the Federal Police does not state that there is a relationship between the names, the values and Senator Ciro Nogueira, the organizations understand that the information refers to the "distribution of values between parliamentarians and other people".
"The association of these names and values with the practices of distributing federal budget resources, notably those known as the 'Secret Budget', is plausible, if one considers the multiplicity of public evidence that Senator Ciro Nogueira occupied the role of 'operator' of the Secret Budget during the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro", they state.
The request also recalls that the senator's mother and deputy, Eliana Nogueira, "was also one of the biggest beneficiaries of the 'Secret Budget', with R$400 million in nominations in the second half of 2021", during the period in which her son commanded the Civil House.
"It is important to remember that the conclusion of informal and obscure agreements for the distribution of parliamentary amendments was declared incompatible with the Brazilian legal system by this Supreme Court", he concludes.
What those mentioned say
In a note, representative Arthur Lira's (PP-AL) advisor stated that the former president of the Chamber "is unaware of the notes mentioned and cannot answer for this record" found by the PF.
In a statement sent by his advisor, the current president of the Chamber, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), classified it as "absurd" to associate his name "with any type of illicit activity based on an apocryphal paper", the content and preparation of which Motta says he is unaware of.
"I reaffirm: I don't know what this is about and I repudiate any conclusion in this sense. I trust the bodies responsible for the investigations, which are responsible for the investigations. We cannot allow untruths to multiply, particularly during the election period", completes Motta's statement sent by the press office.
To g1, deputy Elmar Nascimento (União Brasil-BA) said he "completely" repudiated any mention of his name, especially in a note that he classified as "apocryphal". He also highlighted that he is not from Ciro Nogueira's party and has never "played politics" with the PP senator.
"We are living in a police moment, which is focused on the political class. And it should be focused on the conduct of bad police officers. I have never had any relationship that could imply my name being on something like that," he declared.
g1 also sought advice from Ciro Nogueira, Dr Luizinho and Isnaldo Bulhões. And try to contact the teams of the others mentioned. The space remains open for congressmen to demonstrate.
