The president of the Court of Auditors of the State of Mato Grosso (TCE-MT), Sérgio Ricardo de Almeida, arrested this Thursday (29) during Operation Tomada de Contas, received R$15.4 million in less than a year, according to extracts analyzed by the Federal Police. In the same period, however, the Transparency Portal recorded only R$288 thousand related to remuneration.
Although the resources have officially left the TCE-MT account, which receives payments from the twelfth, the decision points to an attempt to hide the destination of the amounts in the following stages, through withdrawals and fractional transfers.
By order of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Sérgio Ricardo, court prosecutor Grhegory Paiva Pires and four other civil servants were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the scheme of suspending payments to suppliers with regular contracts to prioritize transfers to advertising companies.
According to the STJ's decision, payments, which were in theory undue, were made to counselors and employees directly from the body's account, based on the receipt of twelfths, but were not made through the normal payroll, but, as a rule, through the payment channel intended for suppliers.
The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office also highlighted that "outside" payments do not have a legal equivalent, even if it were considered some type of compensation of a compensatory nature.
According to a criminal report registered with the MPF, the continuity of payments would be conditioned on the supposed return of part of the amounts received. Subsequently, the resources would have reached people linked to the group associated with the Presidency of the Court.
According to the records, the investigation began after a complaint that advisor Sérgio Ricardo, who assumed the Presidency of the TCE-MT in 2024, had issued ordinances to suspend contract payments under the justification of budgetary restraint, but kept selected companies on the payment list.
Data extracted from the Transparency Portal would point to a contradiction between the justification for budgetary restrictions and the evolution of monthly payments. According to the investigation, even during the containment period, the values would have increased from R$67 million to R$80 million per month.
According to data used by the Federal Police, state revenue would have increased from approximately R$37 billion, in 2023, to R$39 billion, in 2024, and R$42.696 billion, in 2025.
According to the investigation, despite the context of contractual suspension, some companies would have maintained or increased receipts.
Among those mentioned are providers of labor supply services for various activities, such as cleaning, conservation, catering, transportation, maintenance, electrical services, reception and administrative support, as well as advertising and advertising companies.
According to sources linked to the investigation, the targets of the operation are: Arrested: Roseli Loss, Adriangelo Barros Antunes, Sergio Ricardo de Almeida, Grhegory Paiva Pires Moreira Maia, Gustavo Fernandes da Silva, Felipe Jose Glinke.
Main targets: Sérgio Ricardo de Almeida (Search Warrant and Preventive Detention), Guilherme Antônio Maluf (Search Warrant), José Carlos Novelli (Search Warrant), Alisson Carvalho de Alencar (Search Warrant), Valter Albano da Silva (Search Warrant), Grhegory Paiva Pires Moreira Maia (Search Warrant and Preventive Detention).
