Following allegations of fraud and corruption, Brazilian swimming federation president Coaracy Nunes has been removed from his position along with three other officials.
Nunes had been the president of the CBDA (Brazil’s national federation governing aquatic sports) since 1988 and was up for re-election next year. But reports surfaced last month that Nunes was under investigation for corruption and fraud, with Brazil’s Federal Public Ministry calling for his immediate removal from office.
The Federal Public Ministry said it had discovered “strong evidence” of overbilling, misappropriation of public funds and embezzlement within the CBDA, and suggested that funds designated to buy equipment for the Brazilian Olympic team had been misused. At the time, Nunes denied the claims, saying they were part of a campaign by his political opponents in next year’s election for CBDA president.
More evidence came out a few days later suggesting that the federation had made suspicious payouts and had favored one company in a bidding process in order to make it easier to divert public money from the federation into private pockets. You can read more about that here.
Now, Brazil’s Globo.com reports that the Federal Court of Sao Paulo has agreed with the Federal Public Ministry’s request to remove Nunes from office. Also removed were Sergio Alvarenga, Ricardo de Moura and Ricardo Gomes Cabral. The decision is still subject to appeal, and a lawyer for the CBDA said he was “outraged” by the decision-making process, which he says didn’t provide the defendants enough information. “We are told by the press, preventing the right of defense,” he said in a rough translation of the Portuguese. The attorney also promised an appeal of the decision.
