Dallagnol files criminal report against Moraes for alleged abuse in the Unafisco case

Former prosecutor of the Republic and former federal deputy Deltan Dallagnol filed this Friday (20) a criminal report with the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) against the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes, asking for the investigation of alleged abuse of authority.

In the petition, Dallagnol maintains that the subpoena of the president of the National Association of Tax Auditors of the Federal Revenue of Brazil (Unafisco), Kléber Cabral, to give testimony in the Fake News investigation, would have occurred without evidence of his participation in the facts originally investigated, which involve suspicions of improper access and leakage of tax data of STF ministers and their families.

Also read: Revenue auditors criticize STF action against civil servants: ‘Scapegoats’

The former deputy argues that the call to testify, following public criticism made by Cabral of the operation against tax auditors, could constitute improper use of the investigative apparatus as a form of intimidation.

In the crime report, Dallagnol asks for the initiation of a criminal investigative procedure, a copy of the investigation in which the subpoena was determined, verification of the time between Cabral’s public statements and the summons to testify, in addition to a possible sending of the copy to the Federal Senate if elements that indicate a crime of responsibility are identified.

The document also mentions an episode that occurred in 2019, when auditors were removed in the same investigation and later reinstated, as part of the context presented to the PGR.

Kleber Cabral gave a statement for around an hour and a half to the Federal Police (PF) this Friday. He was heard via videoconference, as an investigator, after criticizing the STF’s performance in an operation that targeted tax auditors on suspicion of improper access and leakage of data from relatives of Court ministers.

The statement was determined by Moraes as part of the so-called Fake News inquiry, established at the Supreme Court to investigate the dissemination of false information and attacks on the Court. The content of the hearing is confidential. According to sources who follow the case, the hearing was considered “calm”, with questions focused on the reasons for the public statements made by Kleber.

In a statement, Unafisco informed that it cannot comment on the content of the testimony due to confidentiality. “The president of Unafisco Nacional, fiscal auditor Kleber Cabral, gave a statement today, remotely, to the Federal Police. He was heard as an investigator within the scope of the so-called Fake News Inquiry, solely due to statements made to the press on Wednesday, February 18. As informed by the police authority, the procedure is being carried out under secrecy, which is why the president of the entity will not be able to comment on the content of the statement at this time”, stated the entity.

In the order that determined the subpoena, Moraes transcribed excerpts from interviews given by Kleber on the day that federal agents served warrants against four tax auditors suspected of leaking confidential data from STF judges and their families.

In one of the statements cited, Kleber stated: “At the IRS, no one will have the courage to mess with this. It’s very risky.” In another excerpt, he declared: “Let’s investigate, let’s inspect the PCC, it’s less risky. Because that’s the message. Don’t look into it and there will be blows.”