Brasilia – Brazilian Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos on Sunday denied any links to the scandal that 11 days ago led to the resignation of once-powerful Finance Minister Antonio Palocci.
“It’s a made-up and unfounded story,” said Bastos in an official written statement about a report by the weekly magazine Veja in its edition appearing Saturday.
Veja had reported that Bastos attended a meeting at Palocci’s home to discuss how to save the now ex-minister from accusations of having violated bank secrecy regulations in retaliation against a caretaker who reported seeing him at orgies with prostitutes.
The Justice Ministry admitted that Bastos was at Palocci’s house with attorney Arnaldo Malheiros Filho but said that his visit was to discuss “general matters” about the case of caretaker Francenildo Costa, whose bank accounts were illegally investigated and who was accused of money laundering after he said he had seen Palocci going to orgies in Brasilia.
Costa said he had seen Palocci, one of the men closest to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, going to parties thrown by former colleagues at a Brasilia mansion frequented by prostitutes and by business owners cutting shady deals with the government. Despite the finance minister’s dozens of denials of the accusation, Costa reiterated that he had seen him there “10 or 20 times.”
Police investigations determined that the secrecy that governs bank accounts had been violated illegally in the case of the caretaker, and that the Finance Ministry and its savings institution, Caixa Economica Federal, were directly involved in it.
Caixa Economica Federal chief Jorge Mattoso admitted that the financial institution’s employees violated bank secrecy regulations in releasing information about the caretaker’s account and confirmed that the $20,000 in deposits had been made.
Government supporters contended the deposits were proof that Costa had been “bought” to accuse Palocci.
The release of the information, however, was illegal. Mattoso said he gave the copies of the bank statements to Palocci and then resigned.
Results of police investigations forced Palocci to resign as well, and last week he was accused formally of abuse of power and corruption.
Veja said that the justice minister was at Palocci’s home on March 23, four days before the finance minister resigned, together with Mattoso and Malheiros.
According to Veja, the aim of the meeting was “to find a formula to shield Palocci” and avoid his having to leave office.
However, the Justice Ministry said in its statement that during the meeting Bastos attended nothing was ever discussed regarding “devising an alleged defense or coverup strategy” on Palocci’s behalf.
“The investigation of the Federal Police is proceeding completely independently and will clarify the participation of public officials in the matter,” the statement said.
It added that “the work of the Justice Ministry and the Federal Police has been, throughout this government, marked by independence” and it emphasized that it would continue to be that way, regardless of who was implicated.
The possible role of Bastos in these affairs had been insinuated by opposition parties, who last week announced they would study the possibility of calling the justice minister to answer questions before Congress.
Bastos, in reply to the conjectures, said he was perfectly prepared to go to Congress to clear up his presumed participation in plotting maneuvers to save Palocci, whom Lula defended tooth and nail even when he resigned.
These recent scandals leave the leftist Lula unexpectedly vulnerable six months ahead of general elections, striking the biggest blow to his administration since a series of corruption scandals broke in mid-2005, scandals that the government is still dealing with.
Just before these new troubles surfaced, public opinion polls had begun to show a recovery in Lula’s approval rating, which had plunged amid the previous corruption scandals. EFE
