On the Run Since November, Pizzolato Arrested for Using Fake Passport in Italy

02/05/2014 - 16h53

Italian police arrested on Wednesday (Feb. 5) former marketing director of the Bank of Brazil Henrique Pizzolato in Maranello (322 km from Rome), in the north of Italy. The arrest of the Mensalão convict - deemed a fugitive in Brazil since November of last year - occurred around 11 a.m. (8 a.m. Brasília time).

A team of Carabinieri (Italian police) spotted him and made the arrest. Since December, Pizzolato was living in the home of a nephew in the small northern Italian city.

"There was an international arrest warrant against him. He was using a false document here. He entered Europe with his brother's passport," Carlo Carrozzo, chief of the Carabinieri investigation unit in Modena, told Folha.

Pizzolato was taken to the Carabinieri police station in Modena. According to the Italian police, Pizzolato fled from Argentina on a flight to Madrid using the passport of his brother who died in a traffic accident. After landing in Spain, he went to Italy, where he had taken refuge since December.

Maranello, the small town where he hid, is famous for housing a Ferrari factory and test track. Pizzolato fled to Italy, where he has citizenship, which is why he cannot be extradited.

Brazil's Federal Police have not yet commented on the case, but Folha learned that they have already received the same information. According to initial reports, Pizzolato used a false passport to flee via Buenos Aires.

ESCAPE

Sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison by Brazil's Supreme Court for his involvement in the Mensalão scheme, Pizzolato fled from Brazil to Italy in November of last year.

A day after his arrest warrant was issued, Pizzolato released through his lawyer a note saying he had fled to Italy with the intention of escaping the consequences of an "excessive trial." Pizzolato said he fled to Italy in hopes of getting a retrial. He was the only one on the list of 12 convicted in the Mensalão trial and sentenced to jail time to not turn himself in to police.

Furthermore, he said he would like to see his case considered by the Italian courts, where there would be no "political-electoral" pressures. Due to his citizenship, he will be in relatively safe in Italy, since the European country does not extradite its nationals.

Pizzolato could only be arrested if Brazil could get the Italian courts to open a case concerning the Mensalão crimes and, after a retrial, convict him. That, however, would be extremely difficult, according to international law experts interviewed by Folha.

As soon as his letter was published, the Federal Police sent Pizzolato's name to Interpol, putting him on the list of wanted international criminals.

Friends of the former director said that, to get to Italy, Pizzolato would have had to drive from Rio de Janeiro to the border with Paraguay, crossing it on foot. He would have gone in another car to Argentina, also walking across the border there.

Translated by JILL LANGLOIS

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Lula Marques - 7.dez.2005/Folhapress

Italian police arrested on Wednesday (Feb. 5) former director of the Bank of Brazil Henrique Pizzolato