Summoned by the senate pandemic investigation after saying in an interview to Folha that he had received a bribe request from the Ministry of Health, vaccine vendor Luiz Paulo Dominguetti Pereira was summoned to the pandemic investigation hearings. He reaffirmed that the ministry's now former logistics director, Roberto Ferreira Dias, requested US$ 1 per dose to close the purchase of the immunizing agents.
Dominguetti, representative of Davati Medical Supply, also stated that the company, which was trying to broker the sale of doses of AstraZeneca, was approached by Congressman Luis Miranda (DEM-DF), who had reported suspected corruption in the negotiation with Covaxin.
The audio with which he raised the issue, however, is unclear — which led senators to accuse the deponent of perjury, in a tense day of hearings.
AstraZeneca says it does not work with intermediaries. Cristiano Alberto Carvalho, attorney for Davatti, will speak to the commission in the future.
Ferreira Dias, who was dismissed when Folha reported about the bribe and mentioned earlier in the suspected corruption with the Covaxin vaccine, confirmed that he had met with Dominguetti on February 25 in Brasília. He denied, however, that he had asked for a bribe and suggested that he might have been used as a "puppet."
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon