Post by account_disabled on Mar 13, 2024 21:39:35 GMT -6
According to the opinion, there is evidence that companies and employees interfered in the results of at least 27 projects related to bidding procedures. According to the agency, the participants divided bids and agreed values of the commercial proposals to be presented in the competitions. The frauds also included formally legal institutions, such as the formation of a consortium and subcontracting, to give the cartel an appearance of competition.
The investigation began in May 2013, following a leniency agreement between Siemens, Cade, the Federal Public Ministry and the Public Ministry of São Paulo. With court authorization, searches and seizures were carried out at the headquarters of companies accused of being part of the cartel, and administrative proceedings were initiated.
São Paulo
In São Paulo, illicit contacts began in 1998, during the B2B Lead bidding for the Line 5 project of the capital's Metro. At the time, the companies Siemens, Siemens AG, Alstom, Alstom Transport, DaimlerChrysler (currently Bombardier), CAF, Mitsui and TTrans would have agreed to share the scope of the tender.
Illegalities were also identified in other processes. In the early 2000s, anti-competitive agreements expanded to tenders relating to Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM) projects for train maintenance. The projects would have been divided among the collusion participants.
In 2007 and 2008, another round of negotiations took place between the companies to divide the object of new tenders made by CPTM to contract train maintenance services. The same would have happened in 2009, 2011 and 2013.
The expansion of Line 2 of the São Paulo Metro also had its process affected, according to the investigation. In 2005, the companies Alstom, Siemens, TTrans, Bombardier and Balfour Beatty allegedly maintained contacts that affected the bidding competition for the São Paulo Metro Line 2 extension project.
The agreement signed between those involved in the cartel provided that two consortia would be formed to share the object of the contest. The Linha Verde Consortium (Alstom and Siemens) would be the winner, while the Linha Dois Consortium (Bombardier, Balfour Beatty and TTrans) would present a losing proposal to later be subcontracted.
Illegalities were also identified in tenders in 2004 and 2005 for CPTM's Boa Viagem project and between 2007 and 2008 in the acquisition of cars for CPTM.
In 2008 and 2009, it was discovered that the ten companies participating in the tenders for renovations of Lines 1 and 3 of the São Paulo Metro divided the scope of the projects among themselves.
Federal District
In the maintenance project of the Federal District Metropolitan Company (Metrô DF), carried out in 2005, contacts were also maintained that resulted in an agreement between the Metrô Planalto Consortium (Alstom, IESA and TC/BR) and the Metroman Consortium (Siemens and Serveng). The objective was to divide the scope of the project through the subcontracting of the losing consortium by the winning consortium (52% of the total volume for the Metrô Planalto Consortium and 48% for the Metroman Consortium).
The companies also supposedly agreed that the prices to be presented in the bidding should correspond to 94.5% and 95% of the value stipulated by Metrô DF, according to a draw carried out by the consortia.
Furthermore, after the pre-qualification phase, Siemens would have carried out negotiations with the MPE company so that it could withdraw an administrative appeal filed against the decision of Metrô DF, which had disqualified the consortium of which the MPE was part. In return, MPE would gain part of the project scope, as a subcontractor of the Siemens or Metroman Consortium.