On Monday, June 27, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with the minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos, and the minister General Controller of the Union, Waldir Pires and presented with a report on what is being done to combat corruption in the country.
According to Bastos, corruption combat is a continuous process in the Lula administration that did not begin with charges of corruption in the Post Office.
He cited the 2003 ruling on mandatory reporting of all bank withdrawals of more than US$ 41,900 (R$ 100,000) to the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf).
He also pointed out that the Federal Police are running at least three investigations into the recent charges of corruption.
One of the investigations is in Rio de Janeiro at the state-run reinsurance company (IRB), another is in Brasília at the Post Office, and a third is concentrated in Minas Gerais looking into accusations involving the adman, Marcos Valério de Souza.
Bastos said that in all three cases the police were moving ahead cautiously and calmly, so no mistakes would be made.
Arrested for Corruption
The chief of Policing and Inspection of the Federal Highway Patrol (PRF) in the state of Amazonas, Jones Andrade de Menezes, has been fired.
He is considered the leader of a corruption scheme consisting of kickbacks and bribes in the cargo transportation sector. Another 17 highway patrolmen have been arrested. That works out to about one-third of the highway patrolmen in Amazonas.
A number of arrests were also made at area transportation companies where adulterated vehicles and license plates were found. Police say the gang transported illegal lumber and was involved with stolen vehicles.
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br