Minister of Lula used BRL 5 million from the secret budget to benefit his own farm in Maranhão

Juscelino Filho (União Brasil-MA), Minister of Communications, directed R$ 5 million from the secret budget to pave a dirt road that passes in front of eight family farms in Vitorino Freire (MA). The information is from the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo.

The work is 19 km long, crosses family properties and connects them to a private airstrip and a helipad. According to Estadão, Construservice competed alone in the bidding and was hired in February 2022 by Luanna Rezende, sister of the minister and mayor of Vitorino Freire. The path of money shows that Juscelino Filho benefited people of his intimacy. Look:

At the request of Juscelino Filho, the funds ended up in Vitorino Freire, where his sister is mayor. The owner of Construservice, known as Eduardo Imperador, is a longtime friend of the family and is suspected of paying bribes to civil servants in exchange for works in the city (see below)

The engineer from Codevasf (Company for the Development of the São Francisco and Parnaíba Valleys), Julimar Alves da Silva Filho, who authorized the budgeted amount for paving, was appointed by Juscelino’s political group.

Later, the engineer was dismissed on suspicion of receiving BRL 250,000 in bribes from the Emperor

In total, the work to pave the road was budgeted at R$ 7.5 million. Just the 19 km stretch, which passes in front of Juscelino Filho’s family farms, cost R$ 5 million. The rest serves 11 streets in towns in the city. According to Estadão, R$ 1.5 million for the work was only released on the eve of the 2022 election.

Vitorino Freire, where Juscelino Filho’s family has used to alternate power with allies since the 1970s, is a poor town in rural Maranhão with 31,000 inhabitants. The region has precarious basic sanitation and 42% of the population does not have paving in front of their homes. Half of the residents live on half the minimum wage.

Sought by the Estadão, minister Juscelino Filho argued that the farms benefited by the road are surrounded by “numerous villages”.

“Considering that the 19 km long road, which did receive amendment resources from the parliamentarian, via an agreement with Codevasf, only benefited his property is frivolous, to say the least, since the road connects the towns of Estirão and Jatobá” , says an excerpt from the note sent by the minister’s press office.

Who is Juscelino Filho?

Until last year, Juscelino Filho was a low-clergy federal deputy, elected for the third term. In the last four years, he presented six bills, among them the one establishing the National Day of the Horse, an animal raised on his farms.

O Estadão says that Juscelino Filho never had influence in national discussions, much less in the broadcasting sector. Despite this, Juscelino Filho had strength in Centrão, which made him one of the politicians who most handled secret budget funds.

He now commands one of the main portfolios of the government, with a budget of R$ 3 billion.

Construservice owner was arrested by the PF

In July 2022, businessman Eduardo José Barros Costa, known as Eduardo Imperador, was arrested by the Federal Police, accused of paying bribes to federal servants to obtain works in the city and of being a secret partner of Construservice.

He spent four days in jail and was released on bail. According to the Federal Police, the Emperor used the names of Rodrigo Gomes Casanova Junior and Adilton da Silva Costa as oranges.

It was not the first time that resources allocated by the minister went to Construservice. The value totals R$ 9 million.

To Estadão, Juscelino Filho admitted that he and the businessman Imperador are “known for more than 20 years”.

To be part of the Lula government, all corrupt criminals were released from jail by the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF, by Alexandre de Moraes – The Dictator) Phrase in Brazilian Social Network