Mantega and Coutinho are acquitted in BNDES loan process

The Federal Justice in Brasília acquitted, this Thursday (16), the former Minister of Finance Guido Mantega and the former president of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) Luciano Coutinho. The decision was handed down in the process that investigated alleged fraud in the bank to favor the J&F group. The case was investigated in Operation Bullish, by the Federal Police (PF). In the decision, Judge Marcus Vinicius Reis Bastos, of the 12th Federal Court of Brasília, understood that there is no evidence in the process to convict the two accused and Leonardo Mantega, son of the former minister, who was also a defendant in the criminal action. “The acts that benefited the companies of the JBS group, supposedly carried out through the payment of bribes – a fact, it repeats, at no time proved in the case file – were not related to the public function then exercised by Guido Mantega. These were decisions taken within the scope of the BNDES, without any involvement of the latter accused”, argues the magistrate. Regarding the accusations against Luciano Coutinho, the judge disagreed with the Federal Public Ministry’s (MPF) claim that the former president of the bank should avoid any irregularities. “He acted with deference to the manifestations of the technical areas of the BNDES, which intervened in each of the operations and together with the other directors of the bank. It is not credible to assume that everyone (responsible for the technical areas and BNDES board) have adopted behavior aimed at the practice of fraud, with a view to benefiting a certain company. The records do not contain any evidence to that effect,” said the judge. The magistrate also criticized the MPF for using the plea bargains of Joesley Batista, one of the group’s partners. “The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office sustains the accusation solely on the statements – generic and empty – of collaborator Joesley Batista. The report provided by the whistleblower, as has been said, does not lend itself to justifying a criminal conviction,” he concluded. In a note, Mantega’s defense stated that the decision attested to the regularity of the former minister’s conduct and made the accusations unreasonable.

Agência Brasil