The First Criminal Chamber of the Goiás Court of Justice (TJGO) upheld the conviction of former Mayor of Planaltina de Goiás (GO) María Aparecida dos Santos, and Doña Ceda. (featured image). She is accused of participating in a fraud that led to a change in management of a hospital and emergency care unit in the city of Goiás in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In June 2020, the Health Fund of the Municipality of Planaltina de Goiás launched a public call to employ a social organization, on an emergency basis, to manage the Santa Rita de Casilla Municipal Hospital and the 24-hour Emergency Care Unit.
Doña Seda, then, would have benefited from a particular company, the Brotherhood of Santa Casa de Misericordia de Pacaembo, in São Paulo (SP). The former mayor named the foundation just three days after the public call was opened. The contract was set at R$18.1 million.
For the rapporteur of the case, Judge Oscar Sa Neto, the behavior was “not just an administrative error.”
He pointed out that “what happened here is a period of three days, including the weekend, that is, only one working day, which was surgically calculated to make participation impossible.” “The greatest evidence of this is the restrictions imposed on the way in which offers are delivered, in person, at the counter of the City Council’s procurement sector, which are clearly aimed at excluding candidates from other regions, without representatives going to the site during the allotted time.”
The judge also took into account Maria Aparecida’s defense thesis, which cited the period of public disaster she experienced during the pandemic as justification for the employment. The judge noted that he “realized the seriousness of the epidemic and the suffering it has caused. For precisely this reason, I consider the crime that allowed the diversion of health resources at this time to be more serious, even under the pretext of improving them.”
Mass layoffs and preventable deaths
At the time of contracting, this action attracted the attention of the Public Ministry of Goiás (MPGO). According to the agency, witnesses said that 170 employees were fired immediately, without prior notice, after hiring Santa Casa de Misericordia de Pacaimbo. These employees claim that people from the association were already walking around the health unit even before the change in management.
For the representative, there was an absence of notice and terms of reference, no municipal law regulating social organizations, a lack of qualifications of the contracting body, signs of prior settlement and even the circulation of the association’s representatives in the hospital before the public call.
As previously reported, Santa Casa received R$18.1 million from the contract, and according to the MP’s findings, a competitor sent an offer worth R$9.4 million, almost half the amount spent by the city of Planaltina de Goiás.
According to TJGO, the damage “exceeds monetary value” and may have resulted in a large number of deaths. “In a small municipality like Planaltena, with a population of 90,316 in 2020, and one hospital, this deviation may have caused avoidable deaths.”
The sentence issued against Maria Aparecida dos Santos to 3 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of 11 days was maintained. Amelia dos Santos Ramos, representative of the organization Santa Casa de Misericordia de Pacaembo, was also convicted. Her sentence was set at a fine of 4 years, 1 month and 12 days. Both were sentenced to serve their sentences in an open trial system.
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The other side
the Capitals I have contacted Maria Aparecida dos Santos and are waiting for a response. Amelia dos Santos Ramos’s defense has not been found as of the last update of this report. The space remains open.