The Municipal Education Department (Semec) of Teresina was the target, on Wednesday morning (26/11), of a federal police operation targeting a million-dollar corruption scheme installed in the department during the previous administration.
Dubbed “Operation Clean Hands,” the operation was launched in partnership with the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) and complied with a total of 31 court orders, all in the capital, Piaui.
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Four temporary arrests and 27 search and seizure orders were implemented, in addition to the freezing of goods and financial assets exceeding 40 million Brazilian reais, the estimated value of the damage caused to the public treasury. About 100 federal police officers and CGU auditors participated in this action.
How the scheme worked
Investigations began in 2023, following complaints indicating irregularities in Simec’s labor outsourcing contracts.
The suspected competitions will be held in 2019 and 2022, both of which are still in effect. According to investigators, the group created a system of corruption that included bidding, hiring shell companies, overbilling, and even unjustifiably withholding the salaries of outside workers.
In practice, employees were involved in contract manipulation in favor of specific suppliers, who returned part of the amounts they had obtained through illegal transfers.
Resources are traded through accounts of people associated with the group, companies with no real activity and financial workers.
Who were investigated?
Four public servants who were part of the previous management of the secretariat were identified as key players in the scheme.
They were dismissed in mid-2025, after the first confirmations of irregularities.
During Wednesday’s operation, four other people were also arrested. These are not former employees, but are suspected of operating the underground financial movement that supplied the group.
PF indicates strong evidence of embezzlement, active and passive corruption, criminal organization, bid fraud and money laundering.
Next steps
In addition to the arrests and seizures, the court ordered the confiscation of assets and the freezing of bank accounts of persons under investigation to prevent dissipation of assets obtained through the scheme.
The CGU continues to analyze seized documents and contracts to determine the extent of the damage and any new persons involved.