Brazil: CADE and Federal Police set out to dismantle cartel in public contracts

The Federal Police of Brazil and the Administrative Council of Economic Defense (CADE) have conducted a joint operation to deepen their investigation into an alleged cartel that would have commited fraud in their bids for federal contracts.

Nearly 40 federal police and 28 CADE officials executed search and seizure warrants against 13 companies located in the Federal District of Brasilia. According to CADE, almost 500 third party contracting processes carried out by federal public agencies since 2014 could have been affected by frauds.

The operation, dubbed ‘Punto de Encuentro’, began as an investigations prompted by a CADE official who identified signs of irregularities in the electronic process of hiring brigadier services. The fact raised more suspicions, as it is unusual for a cartel to be created to commit a single fraud.

Full Content: Agencia Brasil