The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, said he had not identified the existence of concrete evidence to investigate suspicions that Minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes had pressured Central Bank President Gabriel Galípolo over the Banco Master inspection.
For Gonet, despite the reports published on the subject, there is no “concrete element or material proof” of this fact. Moraes’ conversations with Central Bank President Gabriel Galípolo regarding Banco Master were revealed by the newspaper The globe and confirmed by Stadium. In a single day, Moraes allegedly called Galípolo six times to discuss the matter.
Moraes denied the accusation and said he had only discussed with the BC president the application of financial sanctions by the United States.
“In a preliminary analysis, it is imperative to highlight the absolute absence of minimal evidence to support the accusation made. Both the accused and the President of the Central Bank have denied, in a peremptory and convergent manner, the existence of any pressure exerted by the Minister on the interests of Banco Master. Despite the media repercussion of the case, the media have not presented concrete elements or material evidence that corroborate the thesis of intimidation, leaving the story in the domain of hypotheses,” wrote Gonet.
The attorney general also stressed that he saw no signs of illegality in the 129 million reais contract between Master and the law firm of Viviane Barci de Moraes, the minister’s wife. Gonet therefore filed a request for an investigation into these facts, filed by lawyer Ênio Martins Murad.
The lawyer presented the investigation request to Gonet on December 24. The file was signed by Gonet three days later.
This is the first statement from the Attorney General of the Republic on this matter. Gonet was appointed commander of the general prosecutor’s office with the support of Moraes and maintains good relations with the minister, who served as rapporteur on the attempted coup file, and with the STF.
In a press release, Moraes said that he had spoken with the President of the Central Bank only about the effects of the application against him of the Magnitsky Act, decreed in September by United States President Donaldo Trump to block the minister’s access to the financial system.
Gonet also wrote that the secrecy of the source prevents the investigation from moving forward into the details of this information reporting alleged pressure from the minister.
“The very nature of the journalistic story also imposes insurmountable limits on state prosecutions. The secrecy of the source, a fundamental guarantee enshrined in the constitutional text, prevents the investigation from moving forward on the details of the reports provided by anonymous interlocutors, which constitute the only basis of the information,” affirms the PGR.
The Attorney General also said that Moraes’ wife’s legal contract with Banco Master does not constitute a sign of impropriety.
“With regard to the contract mentioned between Doctor Viviane Barci de Moraes and Banco Master, there is a priori no illegality which would justify the intervention of this body. Interference in legal acts signed between individuals is outside the scope of action and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, especially when it is protected by the autonomy inherent in the liberal activity of law”, he wrote.
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