The deputy governor of Tocantins, Laurez Rocha Moreira (PSD), has interimly assumed the command of the state executive branch. THE administrative act It was published in Official Gazette of the state of Wednesday (3), a few hours after the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) determine the immediate removal from the position of the then governor Wanderley Barbosa (Republicans). 
Barbosa is investigated on suspicion of participation in an alleged scheme set up to divert public resources for the purchase of basic baskets during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2020 to 2021. The Federal Police (PF) claims to have gathered evidence that the investigators took advantage of the state of public health and social assistance decreed by the pandemic to appropriate part of the state, including the state of the state. parliamentarians.
Also according to the PF, considering only contracts for the purchase of basic baskets and frozen chicken, around R $ 97 million, the damage to public coffers can reach R $ 73 million.
By determination of STJ Minister Mauro Campbell, rapporteur of the investigation in secret, Barbosa and his wife, Karynne Sotero Campos, who was responsible for the Extraordinary State Secretariat of Social Participations, will no longer exercise their public attributions for at least 180 days. Campbell also prohibited the couple from accessing state public agencies, including the Araguaia Palace, headquarters of the Tocantins Executive Power, and the Legislative Assembly. The precautionary measures imposed by the minister were endorsed by the Special Court of the STJ unanimously.
Exonerations
As soon as he interimly replaced Barbosa, Laurez Moreira announced the dismissal of the entire first echelon of the executive branch and the replacement of positions with people of his confidence. THE Of published 51 exonerations, including the Attorney General’s Office; the commands of the Military Police and the Fire Department; The Presidencies of the Nature Institutes of Tocantins (Naturatins) and Social Security Management (IGEPREV), in addition to the Information Technology Agencies (ATI-TO) and Transport, Works and Infrastructure (AGETO), among other organs.
At his first press conference as an interim governor, Moreira announced that his priority is to rescue the confidence of society and investors, giving more transparency to state management.
“The lack of transparency makes room for corruption. What we want is just the opposite, an open government, where everyone has access to information and can follow each step of the administration,” said Moreira.
Business counter
The target of Operation Fames-19, whose first phase the PF held on August 21, 2024, and the second phase was launched on Wednesday, the remote governor Mauro Barbosa defends himself by stating that, at the time of the investigated facts, he was deputy governor and did not respond for contracts.
“It is important to emphasize that the payment of the basic baskets, object of the investigation, occurred between 2020 and 2021, still in the previous administration, when I held the position of deputy governor and was not an ordinance of expenses,” Barbosa reaffirmed, referring to the management of his predecessor, former governor Mauro Carlesse.
In October 2021, Carlesse was also removed from the STJ determination office due to suspicions of participation in a bribery scheme. He resigned in March 2022. With the resignation, the STJ referred to the first instance of State Justice the proceedings and criminal investigations involving Carlesse, and Barbosa assumed the government definitively.
For the STJ investigation rapporteur, Minister Mauro Campbell, as well as the members of the special court who endorsed the precautionary measures imposed on Barbosa and other investigated, the evidence already collected point out that, although the scheme of embezzlement of public resources was implemented in previous administrations, it was not only continued but increased, after the arrival of Barbosa, the State Executive Power.
“Evidence was gathered that the broad scheme of diversion of public resources through the supply of basic food baskets was science and acquiescence of Mr. Wanderley Barbosa himself, who used close businessmen and, above all, of special advisors, to set up a systematic and well-organized structure of public resources from the State Government of Tocantins,” said Campbell, during Wednesday’s Special Court.
According to the minister, Barbosa “transformed the state government into a true business counter, receiving in kind amount as an improper advantage.”
The removed governor, in turn, guarantees that, as soon as he assumed the position, he ordered the Attorney General’s Office and the State Comptroller to audit all contracts under suspicion and fully forward the information to the competent authorities.
“In addition to these measures already underway, I will call the legal means necessary to resume the position of governor, prove the legality of my acts and face this injustice, ensuring the stability of the state and the continuity of services to the population,” said Barbosa, in a statement.
