Valor Econômico - Special Section - Fighting Corruption - 17/08/2012

Most cases of corruption around the world involve complex legal and financial corporate structures to hide the proceeds of illegal activities. This is one of the conclusions of the “Puppet Master” report, released at the end of last year by the Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative (StAR), an association created by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The document, which was made from the review of 150 cases in the database called “Grand Corruption”, with values ​​close to US $ 50 billion. Recommends that governments should take firm measures to improve the transparency of financial transactions in order to reduce the loopholes for this type of crime.

The study examines the links between large-scale corruption of public officials and the concealment of stolen goods through shell companies, foundations and funds. According to information provided by the StAR group to Valor, through the World Bank, the cases analyzed pointed out that the most common forms of corruption were bribery, bribery and the use of false consultancy contracts, as well as significant levels of embezzlement. According to the StAR group, the cases shared a number of common characteristics. The vast majority of companies have been misused to hide the money trail.

According to StAR, the most common instruments used in banking and corporate systems as a facade to hide illegal transactions are the use of nominal shareholders, the use of privileges between lawyers and clients (professional secrecy of the lawyer), in addition to flaws in the mechanisms of laundering controls of money from trust funds, service providers or banks, especially in cases where high amounts are involved.

An estimate by the Global Financial Integrity entity points out that between US $ 20 billion and US $ 40 billion are stolen in developing countries annually in cases of corruption.

But there are specific references to some countries, as in the case in which Brazilian researchers from StAR cite legal privilege as an important issue in the issue of corruption in the country. “In Brazil, even when the investigator is able to find the service provider company that was used as an instrument of corruption, it was often sold to a law firm, which uses the legal privilege of not being able to disclose the name of the person who bought the company, ”points out StAR.

Five Brazilians are cited by the “Puppet Master”: the former mayor of São Paulo, Paulo Maluf; bankers Edemar Cid Ferreira and Daniel Dantas; Dantas's sister, Veronica; and Rodrigo Silveirinha, former undersecretary of Tax Administration in Rio de Janeiro.