After the arrest of a councilor who threw R$200,000 out of the window, the PF targets fraud with amendments

The scheme to divert parliamentary amendments investigated by the Federal Police in Operation Overclean was not restricted to Bahia. After a year of investigation, authorities believe that the same group is involved in fraud in other states. The most concrete suspicions involve public contracts in municipalities in Tocantins, Amapá, Rio de Janeiro and Goiás.

The Federal Police analyzes the seized material to check whether politicians and public agents, including federal parliamentarians, are involved in the fraud. If any evidence of involvement of authorities with forum prerogative is found, the investigation must be transferred to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) or the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), depending on the position.

Two key characters connect the suspicions. They are brothers Alex Rezende Parente and Fábio Rezende Parente, owners of Allpha Pavimentações e Serviços de Construções. They were arrested by the PF. The defense claims that it did not have full access to the records and therefore will not comment on the operation.

Federal police officers seized R$1.5 million from Alex on a jet that left Salvador for Brasília. He is appointed as leader of the scheme, responsible for coordinating bid fraud, negotiating with public servants and organizing the payment of bribes. Fábio would act as the group’s financial arm, taking care of the transfer of resources to allies.

The businessmen assumed an active CNPJ in the market, registered in 2017, increased the company’s share capital from R$30,000 to R$1 million and changed the area of ​​activity, from the trade of food products to civil construction. For the Federal Police, this was a maneuver designed to avoid attracting the attention of the authorities. A new company winning robust bids could raise suspicions.

The strategy was not enough to shield the company. The first suspicions surrounding Allpha Pavimentações arose after auditors from the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) identified signs of overpricing in a tender worth almost R$112 million, won by the company, to pave urban and rural avenues and roads in municipalities in the Bahia.

After that, reports from the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf) identified dozens of suspicious financial operations involving Allpha Pavimentações and its partners, the brothers Alex Rezende Parente and Fábio Rezende Parente. They also control three other companies used in the scheme – Larclean Saúde Ambiental, Qualymulti Serviços and Rezende Serviços Administrativos. The investigation shows that businesspeople moved large amounts using cold invoices to simulate non-existent services.

The tender that gave rise to the investigation is the responsibility of the National Department of Works Against Droughts, an agency (DNOCS), a federal agency linked to the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development.

The link between the company and DNOCS was lawyer Lucas Maciel Lobão Vieira, former coordinator of the department in Bahia. He is suspected of directing bids to Allpha Pavimentações in exchange for bribes. The “commission” was transferred, according to the Federal Police, in person or through fractional deposits into his and his family’s accounts.

The Federal Police states that, even after being dismissed from his position, in September 2021, amid suspicions of irregularities, Lobão Vieira continued to use behind-the-scenes influence to facilitate the approval of contracts of interest to the company. Investigators believe that he is actually a kind of hidden partner of the Parente brothers. The lawyer’s defense claims that he did not have access to the investigation and, therefore, will not speak out.

Another ally would be businessman José Marcos Moura, known as the “garbage king”, owner of urban cleaning companies. The PF claims that he has a wide network of contacts and political influence that he would use to facilitate the progress of contracts and expand the scheme. The businessman was also arrested.

Councilor who threw money out the window is suspected of receiving more than R$100,000 in bribes

When analyzing other contracts signed by the companies of brothers Alex and Fábio Parente, outside of DNOCS, the Federal Police reached the former executive secretary of Campo Formoso, in Bahia, the elected councilor Francisco Manoel do Nascimento Neto, known as Francisquinho Nascimento (União- BA), who allegedly received bribes of more than R$100,000 in exchange for contracts.

Before being arrested by the PF last week, the councilor tried to get rid of the money he kept at home. He threw a bag of money out the window. In the bag, according to the PF, there was R$220,000. He declared assets worth R$213,000 to the Electoral Court. Estadão asked for a defense position.

In a conversation recovered by investigators, the councilor asks Alex to leave “something for the auctioneer” Márcio Freitas dos Santos. “The guy is a partner and helped,” wrote the then municipal secretary.

Allpha Pavimentações received around R$57 million from Campo Formoso City Hall between November 2023 and September 2024. The mayor is Elmo Nascimento (União), brother of federal deputy Elmar Nascimento, leader of União Brasil in the Chamber of Deputies, and cousin of Francisquinho Nascimento.

The city hall states that it “conducts its hiring within the best practices” and reported that it opened an internal investigation to verify whether there were irregularities in the contracts.

Salvador city hall employee dismissed after arrest

As the investigation progressed, the Federal Police obtained judicial authorization to break the confidentiality of Alex Parente’s message. The next step was to identify your interlocutors. This is how the investigators reached Flávio Henrique de Lacerda Pimenta, general director of the Administrative Directorate of the Salvador Department of Education.

In conversations, the server shares privileged information and combines details of an auction for eviction and control of infestation of pigeons and bats.

Pimenta was arrested last Wednesday, the 11th, in Operation Overclean. Upon learning of the arrest, the city of Salvador dismissed the employee. The company Larclean, owned by the Parente brothers, received R$67 million from the city hall.

Investigators also suspect contracts for works and services in the cities of Jequié, Lauro de Freitas and Itapetinga, all in Bahia.

Nephew of former governor is investigated in Tocantins

The former Secretary of Partnerships and Investments of Tocantins, Claudinei Aparecido Quaresemin, nephew of former governor Mauro Carlesse (Agir), was preventively arrested in the investigation. He is suspected of receiving R$805,000 from brothers Alex and Fábio Parente to direct bids. The company Larclean has closed R$59.2 million in contracts with the state government since 2021.

‘Facts and strong evidence’

When giving the green light to the PF to launch Operation Overclean, judge Fábio Moreira Ramiro, from the 2nd Federal Criminal Court of Salvador, pointed out the “materiality of the facts” and “strong” evidence of authorship.

“Those under investigation make crime their way of life, working for a long time in the ‘branch’ of bidding fraud and embezzlement of public resources, committing active and passive corruption crimes, as well as laundering financial assets. Thus, there is strong evidence that, when released, they will continue to commit crimes”, he wrote.

“Different prison measures will not be enough to interrupt the activities of those being investigated, which has formed a very structured organization for many years, with a very strong role in the Public Administration of several units of the Federation, as well as several municipalities”, continues the magistrate.

Dialogues intercepted by the PF caught two people being investigated talking about the destruction of evidence and documents related to the investigation. They combine deleting conversations on WhatsApp and replacing cell phones. This was another reason for the judge to order the arrests.

“The intercepted conversations revealed a coordinated and systematic operation to destroy evidence, which included the simultaneous use of three crushing machines operating continuously” explained the magistrate.

According to the PF, the suspected group would have moved around R$1.4 billion, including R$825 million in contracts with public bodies in 2024 alone. 17 preventive arrest warrants and 43 search and seizure warrants were served in Operation Overclean.

Until the publication of this text, the report had not managed to contact the defenses of all those mentioned. The space is open for manifestation.