Wife of Brazilian Political Marketer Says She Received Slush Funds from the Hands of Nicolás Maduro

05/12/2017 - 11h44

Mônica Moura, the wife of Brazilian political marketer João Santana, told the Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office that she received resources of a slush fund directly from the hands of then-chancellor Nicolás Maduro, currently the President of Venezuela. Moura said that the payments referred to services regarding electoral campaigns. Maduro was Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2006 and 2013.

"Then-chancellor Nicolás Maduro - who would become the president of Venezuela after the death of Hugo Chávez - told Mônica Moura to receive nearly all the amount paid for the reelection campaign of President Chávez (2012) under the table, through payments made by construction companies Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez", the document reads.

Moura says that she received at least US$ 11 million from Maduro and that there was still "a debt of US$ 15 million, which was never paid." Santana's wife also says that Lula's former presidential chief of staff, José Dirceu, participated in the first meetings in Caracas. She said that journalist and former minister of the Lula administration Franklin Martins also was hired in the campaign and that the hotels they stayed at were paid for by the local office of Andrade Gutierrez.

Moura also says that then-Venezuelan ambassador in Brazil, Maximiliano Arvelarz, "was the main articulator and guarantor of Hugo Cháves's campaign in 2012."

"Making payment under the table, with resources that came from bribes received by politicians, was not used only in Brazilian campaigns. Ambassador Maximiliano Arvelarzde seemed to be well acquainted with Andrade Gutierrez, which in turn, even made private jets available for him. In at least three flights, João Santana, Monica Moura, Franklin Martins and José Dirceu flew together from São Paulo to Caracas", shows the document delivered by Santana's wife to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

On Thursday, May 11, Folha tried to contact the Venezuelan embassy at 5:00 p.m., however no one answered the phone calls.

The couple also reported that they worked in campaigns of three other candidates abroad with resources from slash funds. These countries include Panamá, El Salvador and Angola. Altogether the contracts amount to at least US$ 85 million.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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