Former aide to President Temer, ex-minister, execs arrested

Lawyer José Yunes, President Temer’s former aide, was arrested this morning. Ex-Minister of Agriculture Wagner Rossi (2010-2011) and the main executives from two transport logistics giants were also temporarily taken under custody as part of Operation Skala, launched by the Federal Police.

Antônio Celso Grecco, president of Grupo Rodrimar, was arrested in the city of Monte Alegre do Sul, São Paulo state. Executive Celina Torrealba, one of the owners of Grupo Libra, was taken under custody in her apartment in Rio de Janeiro.

A number of temporary arrests as well as search and seizure warrants are reportedly being exercised at the request of Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Raquel Dodge.

The measures were issued by Supreme Court Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, tasked with drafting the report for the so-called Ports Investigation, a probe into public officials suspected of favoring firms in the port sector with the publication of the Ports Decree, signed by President Temer in May last year.

The Supreme Court ordered the police to restrict the information disclosed about the crackdown. Federal prosecutors also announced that, as these are provisional measures aimed at “providing the foundation for ongoing probes,” the names of all of the investigated targeted by the warrants would not be confirmed.

Government

Carlos Marun, head of the president’s secretariat of government, said that the arrests conducted under Operation Skala are no detriment to the government, and spoke in favor of the Ports Decree.

Marun reiterated he was sure that the president has no connections with any benefits allegedly granted Rodrimar—the company brought under scrutiny for reportedly being favored by the decree.

“The arrest of two of the president’s friends is a situation whose motives we still do not have much specific knowledge about,” he said, adding, “I’d like to learn the reasons behind [the arrests] first of all; and I’m sure that, if this is not given a biased and sensationalist treatment, it will not come to undermine the government, as President Temer doesn’t have anything to do with it. The decree does not benefit Rodrimar.”

Defense

In a note, José Yunes’s attorney José Luis Oliveira Lima refers to his client’s arrest as “unacceptable” and says that Yunes had been cooperating with investigators. “The imprisonment of a lawyer over 50 years in the practice of law is unacceptable. He has reported to authorities whenever summoned and even out of his own will. This prison is illegal and an act of violence against José Yunes and against citizenship,” his note reads.

When contacted by our reporters, Rossi’s counsel said the former minister has been retired for seven years and out of practice both privately and publicly. “He has no longer taken part in electoral campaigns or had ties with politicians. He was not called in the case mentioned to give testimony. The measures taken are therefore abusive. Nonetheless, Wagner Rossi is convinced his innocence will be proved,” his attorneys argue in the note.

Rodrimar and Celso Grecco’s lawyer have not issued a statement yet. Representatives from Grupo Libra declined to comment for the time being.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira