The Federal Police (PF) and the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) launched, this Tuesday (27), Operation Mederi, with the aim of investigating embezzlement of public resources and fraud in the area of health in municipal administrations in Rio Grande do Norte.
The investigations point to signs of irregularities “in contracts for the supply of inputs for the public health network, involving companies based in Rio Grande do Norte that worked with municipal administrations in several states”.
“Flaws in contractual execution were identified, including signs of non-delivery of materials, inadequate supply and overpricing”, informed the PF.
The operation involves the participation of 163 federal police officers and five CGU auditors, deployed to carry out 35 search and seizure warrants. In addition, precautionary and patrimonial measures were adopted.
Mayor
Among the targets of the search and seizure warrants is the mayor of Mossoró, Allyson Bezerra (União Brasil).
Contacted by Agência Brasil, Alysson Bezerra’s defense confirmed compliance with the warrants and said that “from the first moment, the mayor fully collaborated with the investigation, granting access to the requested information”.
According to lawyer Fabrízio Feliciano, from the team defending Alysson Bezerra, “there is no fact that personally links the mayor in the case”. He argues that the measure would have been granted based on dialogues involving third parties, and that the contracts in question were signed between municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte and medicine companies, “involving facts that occurred in different municipal entities”.
According to the defense, the precautionary measure results from a court decision made during the investigative phase, “without any judgment of guilt”.
Feliciano adds that, since 2023, the city hall has made the use of the National Pharmaceutical Assistance Management System – Hórus mandatory as an official platform for stock control and dispensing of medicines within the city hall.
Since then, according to the lawyer, the responsibilities for monitoring these stocks have been passed on to the municipality’s General Comptroller’s Office.
