Gilmar Mendes, from the STF, orders the investigation into Aécio Neves to be closed

The minister Gilmar Mendesfrom the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered the closure of an investigation targeting the former senator and now federal deputy Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG).

The investigation was carried out by the Electoral Court of Minas Gerais. The Federal Police (PF) was investigating whether the toucan had failed to declare R$2.5 million spent during the 2014 electoral campaign.

That year, Aécio was the PSDB candidate for the Presidency of the Republic and reached the second round, but was defeated by the then president Dilma Rousseff (PT)who won re-election.

The investigation was initiated by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) based on statements from a defendant collaborating in the process who mentioned allegedly unregistered donations to several candidates in the election.

“It is noteworthy that the same statement from the Attorney General’s Office that recognized that the case did not fall within the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court also determined that the RIF should be added to the files (Financial Intelligence Report) prepared by Coaf (Financial Activities Control Board) based on data from the applicant”, noted Gilmar Mendes in his decision.

“There is evidence, therefore, that investigative acts were carried out by an authority that did not have legal authority to carry them out – and that this irregular action produced evidence that, alongside non-specific and generic reports from the collaborator, are still used today by the PF as justification to continue with the investigation against the applicant”, explained the Supreme Court minister.

“The PGR should have limited itself to sending the files to the competent authorities, without continuing with the investigations. This appears to have been contradicted by the decision to add a Financial Intelligence Report (RIF) produced by Coaf at the request of the PGR itself, in violation of the constitutional and legal rules defining the Public Prosecutor’s Office responsible for carrying out criminal investigations. ”, stated Gilmar.

“Excessive deadline”

In his order, the magistrate also assesses that “there is an obvious excess of time in the investigations” involving the parliamentarian. Gilmar notes that the inquiry has been open for five years and the investigation deals with facts that allegedly occurred more than a decade ago.

“For almost five years, therefore, the applicant has been investigated for acts allegedly carried out more than ten years ago, without the Federal Police having gathered evidence that justifies the Public Prosecutor’s Office filing a complaint”, says the minister.

“The seriousness of the case is corroborated by the fact that, two years before the investigation was opened, the PGR was already aware of the facts attributed to the applicant, based on the employee’s report. Even worse, as the documents attached to the case file by the defense show, there is still no indication of the outcome of the case.”

Defense was already waiting for the decision

The defense of deputy Aécio Neves, in turn, states that the Court’s decision was already expected and that “any irregularity in the reporting of the then presidential candidacy” was never found.

Trajectory

Aécio Neves is 64 years old and is one of the main leaders of the PSDB. In addition to being a candidate for President of the Republic in 2014, he was governor of Minas Gerais for two terms (between 2003 and 2010), senator of the Republic (2011-2019), president of the Chamber of Deputies (2001-2002) and national president of the PSDB (2013-2017).

Since 2019, he has been a federal deputy for Minas Gerais. He also served in the Federal Chamber between 1987 and 2002.