Marcos Vieira Bacellar, father of the dismissed president of Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro) Rodrigo Bacellar (União), is trying to overturn in the Rio courts a conviction for administrative improbability by calling as a witness the current general director of Alerj, appointed by his son.
Convicted in a case completed in 2021, Marcos Bacellar filed an appeal for annulment in February 2023 to overturn the conviction on the grounds that Marcos André Riscado de Brito had to be heard as a witness.
Brito was appointed general manager of Alerj by Rodrigo Bacellar on February 6, 2023, three days after his father appealed, according to the prosecution.
The report searched for Rodrigo Bacellar through the consulting firm and Marcos Bacellar through the defense related to the process, but there were no answers. Marcos André Riscado de Brito was also contacted through Alerj, without response.
In Alerj’s organizational chart, the general director is located just below the prosecutor and the deputies of the Chamber. Brito remains in his position, with an average monthly salary of R$18,000.
The conviction of Marcos Bacellar began with a public civil action by the Public Prosecutor’s Office which denounced suspicions of embezzlement in the municipality of Campos dos Goytacazes, north of Rio de Janeiro, the political cradle of the family.
In Campos, the Bacellar family is in political conflict with the Garotinho family, which has already elected two governors: Anthony Garotinho (1999-2002) and Rosinha Garotinho (2003-2006). Wladimir Garotinho (PP), the couple’s son, is the current mayor of the town.
Marquinho Bacellar (União), brother of Rodrigo Bacellar and son of Marcos Bacellar, is one of the advisors.
Marcos, president of the city council in 2007, allegedly appointed a company to City Hall to help maintain the local Justice Court building, without the magistrates knowing or requesting renovations.
At the time, the prosecutor’s office reported a loss of R$332,000 for municipal coffers, with “the provision of unnecessary services”, according to the complaint.
The case became final and without appeal in 2021. Marcos Bacellar was sentenced to loss of public office, suspension of political rights for eight years, a fine and reimbursement of funds. Two years later, he filed a lawsuit to include new evidence, believed to be the testimony of Marcos André Riscado de Brito.
“The author let it be known that the ‘witness’ whose hearing would prove essential for the acceptance of his request for review of the judgment is the current general director of Alerj, having been appointed to the aforementioned position on commission by his son”, specifies the prosecution.
Brito had already been heard in the process and had confirmed, in his testimony, that people had approached Marcos Bacellar to sign a contract with the town hall.
In April this year, the Rio Court of Justice decided not to accept Marcos Bacellar’s appeal. The process remains open.
In the vote that defined the release of Rodrigo Bacellar, Monday (8), MP Carla Machado (PT) was the only parliamentarian among the left-wing parties most represented in Alerj to vote in favor of the release. The deputy was released by 42 votes to 21.
The MP was contacted through the press service, but did not respond.
During the period when she was mayor of São João da Barra, Carla Machado had Marcos André Riscado de Brito as her authorized lawyer. The municipality north of Rio de Janeiro neighbors Campos. Brito was also secretary at the town hall of Macaé, another town in the region.
As part of an investigation aimed at investigating suspected irregularities in the contracts of the Municipality of Macaé for the provision of school meals, between 2006 and 2015, the TCE-RJ (State Court of Auditors) decided that Brito, responsible for internal control of the municipality, should pay a fine for not having acted. He was already accused in this case when he was appointed director of Alerj.
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