Lula’s future Minister of Culture (MinC), Margaret MenezHe hasn’t even taken over the portfolio and it could already be a problem for the next government. Because Margareth’s NGO, which carries out social projects, has problems in court.
In December 2020, the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) ordered the Associação Fábrica Cultural to return around R$ 340,000 to the public coffers. The score relates to irregularities found in an agreement signed between Margareth’s NGO and the MinC to hold a seminar on “identity cultures” in 2010, the last year of the Lula government.
Under the contract, the portfolio would release approximately R$760,000 to fund the event, which is budgeted at R$1 million. Margareths Fábrica Cultural would pay the rest. In reviewing the accountability of the agreement, TCU engineers found the following irregularities:
In addition, the NGO did not provide the agreed resources in return. The documents were obtained by Veja magazine and published this Friday the 16th.
In addition to the above issues, TCU technicians identified a suspicious payment of BRL 120,000 to the company Foco Entrentimento. When they examined the corporate structure, they discovered that it was owned by two directors of Margareth’s own NGO which is forbidden by law to prevent public money from leaking into the pockets of those who supposedly manage it on a notforprofit basis.
The TCU determined the return of some of the resources, which never happened. The NGO Margareth Menezes was subsequently placed on the criminal record, preventing them from signing new agreements with the public administration. The Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the company to try to recover the funds.
In addition to owing to the ministry she will head, Margareth is racking up tax and social security debts. The federal tax collects just over R$1 million in unpaid taxes from two of the singer’s companies Estrela do Mar Produções Artísticas and MM Produções e Criações.
Also read: “A series of economic barbarities”, article by Ubiratan Jorge Iorio, published in issue 142 of Revista Oeste