Ricardo de Barros Leonel, Prosecutor for Public and Social Heritage, decided today to launch investigative requests into the payment of public funds for the concert by singer Daniela Mercury at an event attended by former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on May 1st in São Paulo attended.
The decision was issued as part of the procedure initiated ex officio on its own initiative by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and will be submitted to the Supreme Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for approval.
In the order, the prosecutor held that there was no “reasonable cause” for opening a civil investigation into the alleged impropriety of the case. According to Leonel, there is no news that the singer has been hired irregularly.
“In this scenario, there is no indication of the practice of a possible act of administrative dishonesty involving illegal enrichment, damage to the treasury, or even violation of the principles of public administration by a public official,” he mused.
On the other hand, the prosecutor understood that the artist “obviously violated the contractual clause and expressed political content in support of the precandidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who attended the presentation”.
Leonel understood that the facts involve an analysis and possible investigation “from the perspective of electoral legislation with regard to the possibility of confronting an illegally practiced electoral campaign or election propaganda” to which the Department of Elections is at fault.
Therefore, the prosecutor ordered copies of the proceedings to be sent to the regional electoral attorney’s office in São Paulo.
The preliminary inquiry now filed was opened by the MP in May, days after the Labor Day event organized by union headquarters in Pacaembu’s Praça Charles Miller.
The documents forwarded to the São Paulo Prosecutor’s Office are based on information published in the capital’s Official Gazette regarding the payment of R$ 100,000 to the singer.
According to São Paulo City Hall, the shows during the event were made possible by a parliamentary amendment by councilor Sidney Cruz (Solidariedade) totaling R$360,000 of which R$187,000 was spent.
At that time, the production company that manages Daniela Mercury’s career informed Esstadão that she was hired by MGioria Comunicações and that the artist had not received an appeal from the town hall.