Senator's per diems lower than seized cash, experts question explanation

Senator Jaques Wagner, the Lula government's leader in the Brazilian Senate, has received around US$63,000 and 1,400 euros in per diems for international travel since 2019. This amount has drawn scrutiny following the Federal Police's seizure of a significant sum of cash this week, which some experts argue is inconsistent with typical per diem usage.

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He declared to Income Tax that he has this money at home? To be legal, this needs to be on the tax return.

Roberto Livianu, president of the Institute for Not Accepting Corruption (Inac), finds the explanation that the seized money constitutes per diems "totally unreasonable." He emphasizes that such funds must be declared to income tax and that unused per diems should be returned. "If there was no expense, the correct action is to return the funds," Livianu stated, adding that this is especially important for a government leader.

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If there was no expense, the correct action is to return the funds. The per diem is to compensate for expenses of a public official, from the perspective of administrative morality, because the per diem serves to reimburse expenses. That would be the correct thing to do, especially as the government leader.

Guilherme France, manager of the Anti-Corruption Knowledge Center at Transparency International Brazil, noted that cash is difficult to trace. He pointed out that large amounts of cash found with public officials are often linked to fraud and corruption investigations. "For its untraceability, cash is how bribe payments are often made," France said, advocating for restrictions on cash transactions.

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Regarding the cash seized, the press office informs that the amount is either the result of purchases by the senator himself, via Banco do Brasil, for trips, or it is the result of legal per diems, declared and unused on official international missions.

Juliana Sakai, executive director of Transparency Brazil, also expressed skepticism. "If it is true that he is accumulating tens of thousands of dollars and euros from per diems paid by the Senate, either the Legislature is paying far more than necessary, or he does not need to spend these per diems because his expenses on these trips are coming from another source," she stated. The Senate pays per diems to senators for official travel, with rates adjusted annually based on destination.

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Brazil is tired of seeing Federal Police operations where large amounts of cash are found with public officials suspected of involvement with fraud and corruption.