This audit was commissioned from BDO by Ana Jorge, who was later dismissed by the current government, which opened a war of accusations with the previous provider, the socialist Edmundo Martinho. Sources contacted by SIC, and who have the full 411-page report in hand – delivered to the ministry, the PGR and the Court of Auditors – guarantee SIC that there are around 90 non-conformities spread across 62 pages.
SIC was unable to confirm this information, but can assure that between pages seven and 43 alone, there are at least 21 situations marked in red, meaning high legal and financial risk for Santa Casa.
One of the first examples, which spans several pages, is the lack of availability of minutes or, for example, documents that guarantee the powers of representation of those who made decisions.
On page seven it can be read, for example, that the “lack of availability of the majority of the minutes of the meetings of the General Assembly and the management body of the SCG (Santa Casa Global) does not allow the quality and sufficiency of powers to be verified” . This may result in “the invalidity of the legal transactions” in question.
This lack of availability of minutes is mentioned on several pages of the report, which leads the auditor to be unable to conclude the validity of numerous management acts, which is considered very relevant by BDO, always marking these conclusions with a red ball, the such that it indicates a high risk.
Situations such as “unattributed powers” to people who carried out acts, lack of due diligence, unsigned resolutions, lack of business plans, lack of information on bond loans, lack of background checks on shareholders, lack of completeness of the banks with which the worked in international business, lack of documentation on banking transactions, potential conflict of interests or lack of authorization from the guardianship authority for investments made are repeated throughout all the pages, always marked as high risk.
On page 17, the loans taken out from Banco Santander Brasil are analyzed, making it clear that José Pedro Vaz Fernandes did not have the power to sign the three contracts that linked Santa Casa Global Brasil to the bank. On the same page it is also clear that the constitution of SCG Mozambique was not preceded by any due diligence, namely a technical and financial analysis of the business, expressly contradicting the instructions of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
The method used by BDO on the pages to which SIC had access is based on a table with four columns: in the first it identifies the situation, in the second it summarizes, in the third the conclusion and in the fourth it highlights relevance. Now, when the situation is relevant, it is marked with a yellow dot or a red dot.
The situations highlighted in red are potentially serious for Edmundo Martinho’s administration, as they indicate negligence and lightness in the way Santa Casa embarked on an internationalization process that turned out to be a disaster.
His successor, Ana Jorge, interrupted these businesses and ordered this audit, allegedly to be able to have a real picture of the risks associated with all internationalization, as there are legal, administrative and financial situations that are dragging on.
The new government understood that Ana Jorge’s work was highly insufficient, failing to stop Santa Casa’s financial bleeding, opting for her immediate dismissal.
