The president of the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE), Marcelo Lopes da Ponte, said this Thursday (7th) that third parties used his name and that of former Minister of Education Milton Ribeiro, without authorization, to lobby on issues related to the folder. 
The statement was made at a public hearing at the Senate Education Commission, in which Ponte was called to give explanations about an alleged charge of bribes that evangelical pastors Gilmar Santos and Arilton Moura would have made with mayors of various regions of the country in exchange for releasing funds from the MEC. According to three mayors heard by the collegiate this week, the religious charged bribes between R$15,000 and R$40,000 to meet the demands of the municipalities in the portfolio.
“Minister Milton Ribeiro is a person of my highest esteem, of cordiality, respect. I believe in his conduct, in the attitude he had towards the Ministry. My relationship with him has always been the best possible. I believe that third parties used our name to bragging rights or to lobby without our authorization”, said Marcelo Ponte.
transfers
Also according to Ponte, the transfer of funds to all municipalities mentioned as involved in the favoring scheme mediated by the religious “was suspended by the FNDE as a precaution”.
To the Education Commission, the president of the FNDE said that he met the pastors at MEC events and that he remembers the presence of those investigated in at least four agendas that he participated. On how Gilmar Santos and Arilton Moura participated in MEC agendas and events and why, even without any public office, they occupied a prominent seat in the ceremonies alongside former minister Milton Ribeiro, Ponte replied that this was a question decided by the ceremonial of the paste.
Still on the events, Marcelo Ponte said that on these occasions the role of mayors was of a religious nature. “Sometimes they made some speech, some prayer. That’s what I realized, that I had understanding. Nothing else that I’ve noticed. That’s what they usually did,” he said.
Asked if anyone knew or took any action on the alleged intermediation of pastors in the release of MEC resources, the president of the FNDE told the Commission that, in August of last year, the then minister Milton Ribeiro took to the CGU “a crooked conversation in this sense. ”, but the investigation runs under judicial secrecy. “I have not been with them. [pastores Gimar e Arilton] after that,” he said.
overpriced bus
In addition to the alleged influence peddling in the MEC, the president of the FNDE also responded to complaints about the entity’s overpriced tender involving the acquisition of school buses. “In this regard, I inform you that the press released the report a month after all measures had been overcome by our technical area. I emphasize that the final value of the auction presented was the result of a price survey as provided for in the normative instructions of the Ministry of Economy”, he explained.
In insisting on the smoothness of the process, Marcelo Ponte said that all the recommendations of the supervisory authorities were met. “We complied with all the recommendations made in the CGU’s preventive audit, carried out in February. We made the adjustments requested by the calculation methodology to carry out the trading session, and reinforce that the trading session has been monitored by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Union in all its phases”.
In the bidding process, within the scope of the Caminho na Escola program, financed by the FNDE, the agency estimated to invest R$ 700 million in the purchase of 3,850 vehicles for the exclusive use of public school students in schools in rural areas. According to a complaint, the federal government agreed to pay R$480,000 for models valued at R$270,000. After the suspicions, the Federal Audit Court (TCU) suspended the trading session.
Absence
In addition to the president of the FNDE, the pastors accused of influence peddling would also be heard by the Commission today, but they refused to appear to give explanations. By means of a letter, sent yesterday (6) to the collegiate, the lawyers of the religious justified their absence by the fact that both had already provided “all clarifications to the competent judicial authority”.
The president of the FNDE was also asked to explain a complaint published in today’s edition of the newspaper. Newspaper. According to the newspaper, the MEC allocated R$ 26 million for the purchase of kits robotics for schools in the interior of the state of Alagoas, which do not have classrooms, computers, internet or even running water. On the subject, Ponte said that it is the responsibility of the municipalities to indicate which schools will receive the resource. According to him, the FNDE is only responsible for transferring the funds.
Historic
Suspicions about the performance of Gilmar Santos and Arilton Moura in releasing education resources through bribes came to light at the end of last month. At the time, an audio was released in which the then minister of the portfolio, Milton Ribeiro, says that he gave priority to requests made by Pastor Gilmar, at the request of the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro.
The denunciations, which appeared in the press in March, led to the fall of Milton Ribeiro, who is also a pastor, on the 28th. At the time, in his defense, the former minister stated that he had not committed illicit acts. “I am fully convinced that I have never practiced any management act that was not guided by legality, probity and commitment to the treasury. Suspicions that irregular acts were committed must be investigated in depth”, he highlighted.
In a note, he added that he decided to ask President Bolsonaro to resign from the post of minister so that there is no uncertainty about his conduct and that of the federal government. “My departure is more than anything else to make it clear that I want a full, fair investigation.”
Investigation
Milton Ribeiro is under investigation for allegedly favoring the release of resources to city halls through the intermediation of two pastors. The Federal Police, the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) and the Federal Audit Court (TCU) are investigating suspected irregularities involving the FNDE and the MEC.
