Statement of Lobbyist Funaro Contradicts Version from Friend of President Temer

09/14/2017 - 10h36

Statements made by lobbyist Lúcio Funaro in his plea-bargain agreement contradict a version of events given to the Prosecutor General's Office (PGR) by businessman José Yunes, a friend and former aide to President Michel Temer, and include a section that differs from testimony given by Odebrecht regarding the destination of money.

Funaro, today incarcerated at Papuda Penitentiary, said that in 2014 he was at Yunes' office in São Paulo to pick up R$ 1 million (US$ 319,500) as part of a larger amount agreed to involving R$10 million (US$ 3.17 million) from the construction company for PMDB party campaigns that year.

The request from the PMDB to Odebrecht's management, which Funaro wasn't a part of, allegedly came from Michel Temer, who was Vice President of Brazil at the time, and other PMDB leaders.

Funaro said that he hadn't spoken directly with Temer regarding this subject and that his channel of communication was Eduardo Cunha, ex-President of the Congress.

The lobbyist declared that he took the money from Yunes' office and ordered it delivered to the headquarters of the PMDB in Salvador, in response to a request from former minister Geddel Vieira Lima who is currently under arrest.

In February, however, Yunes told the PGR that the money flow had gone in the opposite direction: that he had received the "package" from Funaro in his office at the request of current minister Eliseu Padilha (Chief of Staff) and not from Geddel.

The businessman testified that he wasn't curious to know about the contents of the package, which was delivered afterwards by his secretary to a person also named "Lúcio'. Yunes declared that he did not see this person.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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	Lula Marques - 16.jan.2017/Folha imagem
	Lobbyist Lúcio Funaro