Corporate card: Bolsonaro spent BRL 1.46 million in a single hotel and BRL 362 thousand in the same bakery

BRASÍLIA – Expenses with the corporate card of the Presidency of the Republic, during the administration of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), came to the public revealing at least BRL 27.6 million in expenses, many of which draw attention to the amounts in luxury hotels and personal expenses with ice cream and cosmetics. The information was obtained by Know – public data agency specializing in the Freedom of Information Act (LAI).

A request made on December 18 was answered on the night of January 11, indicating a link containing data on corporate card spending for all presidents of the Republic since 2003, the beginning of Lula’s first term. This transparency model was not used in previous administrations. For example, Michel Temer’s expenses only became public after a request was made via the LAI.

Second Luiz Fernando Toledo, one of the founders of the organization, more than 10 requests were made via LAI to have access to the expenses of the presidency’s corporate card during the Bolsonaro administration – and all were denied using the argument that revealing expenses could put the president and family at risk . In all cases, the justification was that the information would be disclosed after the end of the mandate, based on the second item of article 24 of the LAI. THE Estadão he also tried to obtain data on the presidency’s corporate card and took the case to court.

The latest releases of invoices date from December 19, referring to the purchase of food. If there were subsequent expenses, paid with a corporate card, they are not yet included in the system. The report was made based on official data and information checking, such as CNPJ and address, in public databases available on the internet. It is necessary to warn that in an Excel spreadsheet it is enough to insert a wrong comma for R$ 100 to become R$ 10 thousand.

In all, the system contains 22 CPFs of public servants responsible for purchases, but only two account for half of the invoices. Of the 59 types of expenses made with the card, hotel expenses consumed the most resources. At least BRL 13.6 million was spent on accommodation: often in luxury places, contrary to the discourse often adopted by Bolsonaro, who claimed to be against wasting public money when it is possible to opt for simplicity.

In the list of addresses that received large sums of money is the Ferraretto Hotel, in Guarujá (SP), where the former president used to spend moments of rest. Over the four years, the establishment received R$ 1.46 million. Internet queries show that daily rates range from R$436 (on sale) to R$940. Thus, considering an average value of R$500, the amount would be enough for more than 2,900 daily stays.

The ten largest invoices for expenses on the corporate card are for accommodation, ranging from R$ 115,000 to R$ 312,000. But the presence of a small restaurant in Boa Vista, in Roraima, stands out in the list of expressive expenses.

There’s a R$109,000 note in the Taste of Home, an establishment that provides promotional lunchboxes for R$20 and also delivers. The invoice is dated October 26, 2021, when Bolsonaro was in the city to check the situation of refugees from Venezuela. The same location received two payments – R$28,000 and R$14,000 – in September of the same year.

Also in bakeries, expenses in several establishments exceeded R$ 10 thousand – almost eight minimum wages at a single time. On 20 occasions during Bolsonaro’s term, significant expenses were incurred in one of the branches of the bakery in Rio de Janeiro Santa Marta. Invoices range from R$880 (lowest value) to R$55,000 (highest value), with an average of R$18,000. In all, the establishment received R$ 362,000 from the presidency’s corporate card. One of the expenses – R$ 33 thousand – was on May 22, 2021, on the eve of a motociata held in Rio de Janeiro.

The disclosure of data from the presidency’s corporate card should shed light on the real expenses with motorcycles. For example, between the 9th and 10th of July 2021, Bolsonaro was in Serra Gaúcha and Porto Alegre-where he was followed by motorcycle by supporters. In these two days, R$ 166 thousand were spent on the corporate card, in 46 expenses, concentrated on accommodation, food and fuel.

Apparently, international travel expenses are not in the database. This is the case with expenses between September 18th and 19th, in London, during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.

Childish taste and predilection for sweets, often confessed by Bolsonaro, appear in numbers. In five ice cream parlors, 62 purchases were made, totaling R$ 8.6 thousand. R$ 540 were spent in a single installment. It is not illegal to buy ice cream with the corporate card – but this resource must be used for actions that are fundamental to the government, mainly in displacements – and all the ice cream parlors listed in the system are from Brasília, as well as the 11 expenses in stores with cosmetics that add up to R$ 1 thousand.

In theory, Bolsonaro and close officials can use their own salaries to buy ice cream and other personal expenses. The president’s monthly salary was fixed at R$ 30.9 thousand. The purchase of a tapioca for R$8.30 with a corporate card by the then Minister of Sports Orlando Silva it became a scandal in 2008 and he ended up returning the money.

In a gourmet market in Brasília, known for those who appreciate haute cuisine, 1,200 purchases were made, totaling R$ 678,000, an expense that clashes with the image of those who eat chicken with farofa.

Six expenses with animal feed, carried out in a pet shop in Brasília, between February and April 2022, totaling R$ 1.8 thousand, were also confidential. And another 11 purchases in cosmetics stores, which reach R$ 1 thousand.

At least two purchases at the branch of Havana in the Federal District they were made, totaling R$ 460. Items were also purchased at hunting and fishing stores. To watch TV during the January holidays last year, in São Francisco do Sul (SC), he spent BRL 1,400 on a satellite dish service – it is the only expense with subscriptions and periodicals that appears on the card bill.

Comparison with other governments

It is still too early to say whether Bolsonaro’s spending on the corporate card is greater or less than those made by his predecessors. The data now released point to R$ 27.6 million in expenses over the four years, but the total amounts could be higher, since a report by the court Union accounts (TCU) allocated BRL 21 million with the presidency card in the first two years of Bolsonaro’s term.

According to the same published database, in the first term Lula spent R$ 22 million – considering the values ​​at the time, without inflation correction. If the amount were updated based on the IPCA, an index generally used to measure fluctuations in consumer goods, the same 22 million added at the end of 2006 would mean R$ 55 million today. Lula’s expenses in the second term also add up to R$ 22 million. Already Dilma Rousseff, in the first administration, registered R$ 24.5 million in the presidency’s corporate card. The subsequent four-year period, divided between Dilma and Temer, totaled R$ 18 million in this type of expenditure.