The unit of the German multinational company Bosch in Brazil was ordered to pay around R$1.8 million in compensation for involvement in a corruption scheme that harmed 86 workers, reported the São Paulo Public Ministry of Labor (MPT), which initiated the action. The crimes occurred in 2016 and were caught in Operation Hypocrites, carried out by the Federal Police.
The operation found that the company paid bribes to doctors who acted as experts, seeking advantages in issuing reports in labor actions involving employees of the company, which is based in Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo.
The MPT initially asked for more than R$60 million in compensation, of which R$43 million in collective actions. The action was based on the relationship between a Bosch labor legal manager and an intermediary, to whom amounts were paid under the heading of “bibliographic studies”. The scheme operated between 2010 and 2014 and was reported three years later.
With the replacement of the company’s executive, his successor ended the transfers, which led to the company’s apparent departure from the collusion, which the replacement labor judge at the 1st Labor Court of Campinas, Taisa Magalhães de Oliveira Santana Mendes, took taken into consideration in the sentence. Taisa reduced collective compensation to R$100,000 and individual compensation, initially requested for 86 workers in the amount of R$300,000, to R$30,000 in 27 cases and R$15,000 for 59 affected workers.
According to the decision, one factor that weighed in was that, despite the various steps taken, especially taking statements, it was not possible to gather sufficient evidence of the participation and intent of other representatives of that company.
In a note, the MPT says that those investigated are responsible, according to each person’s participation, for the crimes of criminal association, passive corruption, active corruption and money laundering, with penalties ranging from 1 to 12 years in prison for each crime. . There have already been criminal convictions against medical experts in cities such as Americana, Campinas and Sorocaba, the text adds.
The operation involved other companies benefiting from the corruption scheme, which were not detailed by the MPT. Eight experts participated. Payments to the intermediary could reach R$3,500 per report, in cases involving the subsidiary of the German multinational.
According to the note from the Public Ministry, the actions of the corruptors were decisive, because, “based on the fraudulent reports filed in more than 80 cases, the workers lost the cases presented in court, making it impossible for them to prove the causal link between the accident or occupational illness resulting from the work carried out in the Bosch manufacturing park, generally related to musculoskeletal pathologies and hearing loss, among others. They lost compensation, lifetime pensions, hazard pay, medical and physiotherapeutic insurance and accident stability.”
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When contacted, Bosch issued a note highlighting that this is a first instance decision, subject to appeal. “Thus, the company informs that it is analyzing legal measures to appeal the decision. Bosch reinforces its commitment to legality, in accordance with corporate guidelines for business conduct.”
