The Federal Police (PF) informed the Federal Supreme Court (STF) that it opened an investigation to investigate the Minister of Education, Milton Ribeiro. Yesterday (24), the measure was authorized by Minister Cármen Lúcia.
The investigation was opened at the request of the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, after the publication of articles in the press about alleged favoring the release of resources from the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE), an agency linked to the Ministry of Education.
On Monday (21), a report in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper released an audio in which the Minister of Education, Milton Ribeiro, says he favors, at the request of President Jair Bolsonaro, city halls of municipalities linked to two pastors.
In another investigation, the PF also investigates the alleged irregularities. Yesterday (24) the police received a report from the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU). According to the agency, the facts have been investigated since last year, before the recording was released.
The complaints were received by CGU on August 27, 2021 and deal with possible irregularities that would be occurring in events held by the MEC and about the offering of undue advantage, by third parties, for the release of funds from the fund. The calculation took place between September 29, 2021 and March 3, 2022.
The agency concluded that public agents were not involved in the alleged irregularities and sent the case yesterday to the PF, which opened a criminal investigation.
The case is also investigated in the civil sphere by the Attorney General’s Office in the Federal District. The Federal Audit Court (TCU) will also carry out an extraordinary inspection of the Ministry of Education.
Defense
In a note released to the press after the audio was released, Minister Milton Ribeiro said that there was no type of favoring in the distribution of funds from the portfolio. According to Ribeiro, the allocation of federal resources follows the budget legislation.
“There is no possibility for the minister to determine the allocation of resources to favor or disadvantage any municipality or state,” the minister said in the note.
