The Federal Court of Audit (TCU) is carrying out an in-person audit at Correios to check possible administrative, financial, operational and institutional irregularities within the company’s management in recent years. The state-owned company is experiencing the worst crisis in its history and is trying to negotiate a loan worth 20 billion Brazilian reals, guaranteed by the union, to maintain its activities since the arrival of new President Emmanuel Rondon. The inspection comes in response to a request from the Senate Transparency, Governance, Inspection, Oversight and Consumer Protection Committee.
The court’s plenary session is expected to discuss this issue next Wednesday. According to those familiar with the matter, the audit carried out by the technical team specialized in the communications sector is supposed to continue until the end of this month. The Court of Accounts has already monitored the financial situation of Correios. Last week, the company presented its restructuring plan to court representatives.
According to a document obtained by GLOBO, the scope of the inspection includes a series of possible irregularities arising in the representation of the Senate, ranging from delays in transfers to Postal Saúde, personnel agreements, payments to suppliers to donations to Rio Grande do Sul that were not delivered, to the transportation of lithium batteries in case of possible non-compliance with the rules of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac).
TCU will also investigate a debt recognition contract in which Correios pledged to transfer R$7.6 billion to Postalis, its employees’ pension fund, to cover half of the pension plan’s deficit. Another focus of the audit focuses on financial and accounting issues, such as the delay in publishing last year’s balance sheet and changes in cash balance information left by the administration in Jair Bolsonaro’s government.
In addition, the review will analyze the increase in sponsorship expenditures from 2022 to 2024, legal services expenditures and management conflicts of interest.
Regarding the audit, the TCU technical unit defended that the inspection was carried out at the company’s site (the inspection) “due to the importance of the proposed target” and also because other audits carried out or ongoing in court do not fully meet Congress’s requests. An in-person inspection provides a comprehensive and detailed examination of a situation, which may include inspection of documents, processes and even the physical environment.
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