The deputy mayor of Hortolandia, in the interior of São Paulo, Carlos Augusto Cesar (PSB), known as Cafu, was arrested on Wednesday (12) in an operation carried out by the Federal Police (PF) against fraud in tenders for the purchase of educational materials. His defense said he would not comment on the case and was still analyzing the process.
Cafu was arrested in the morning. It was one of the objectives of Operation Coffee Break, launched by the National Front with the support of the CGU (Controller General of the Union). In addition to Hortolandia, the investigation also targets the municipality of Somare.
However, investigations were conducted in other municipalities in São Paulo and Paraná and in the Federal District.
Six arrest warrants were issued against those investigated. The operation executed 50 other search and seizure warrants, one of which was against Carla Arian Trindade, President Lula’s former daughter-in-law. She was married to Marcos Claudio Lula da Silva, the president’s son.
Carla is suspected of releasing resources from the National Fund for Educational Development, a body linked to the Ministry of Education, for Life Educacional, and is the main person investigated in this case.
The reporter searched the company by phone, letter and email, but received no response.
Carla’s defense, in turn, said that she “requested to see the records and will not comment until full knowledge of the investigation.”
The National Front says Life benefited from millionaire contracts in the municipalities of Hortolandia and Sumaré and paid for the president’s former daughter-in-law’s trips to Brasilia in search of new resources.
In the municipality of Somare (SP) alone, the National Front found that between 2021 and 2023 (partly under the government of Jair Bolsonaro and partly under Lula) about R$52 million was transferred to the company. From Hortolandia, meanwhile, the total amounts received by Life amounted to R$21 million in the same period.
The company’s capital, until 2022, jumped to 300 thousand Brazilian riyals, in the same year to 20 million Brazilian riyals and then to 24 million Brazilian riyals in 2023. Last year, it reached 34 million Brazilian riyals.
the Bound It turns out that most of the contracts suspected by the Palestinian police relate to the purchase of textbooks published by the company and computer systems in public education.
Life began carrying out these activities only in 2022, when it changed the purpose of the company in Gossip (State Trade Council) to include the business of publishing, book wholesale, and development of software and other electronic systems.
In one of the search and seizure targets in São Paulo, Brazilian police forces seized R$2.1 million in cash.
“Investigations revealed evidence of crimes against public administration, including bid fraud, active and passive corruption, as well as overbilling and influence peddling,” a statement from the Comptroller’s Office said.
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