Family Matters,

If you don't buy the magazine, don't try to understand reality, don't try to understand your country, then I'm sorry, but you're a fool!

VEJA - Edition 1742 - March 13, 2002 

The 125 million-real family
...

...and a son-in-law

Two empires of Maranhão, the Sarneys
and the Murads, appear united in
suspicion of defrauding Sudam

Malu Gaspar

In the career of Jorge Francisco Murad Júnior, 49, there's a constant conjunction: politics and business. In the 1970s, when he first married Roseana Sarney, he was involved in the political movements of the time and already interested in economics – a course he eventually completed at a private college in Brasília. In the 1980s, he had a decisive influence on the direction of his father-in-law, former president José Sarney's, government. With an office on the 4th floor of the Planalto Palace, he engaged in backstage politics, knew the details of the state's major deals, and even offered opinions on economic policy, famously known at the time by the Cruzado Plan. In the 1990s, he became the all-powerful secretary of his wife's government in Maranhão, overseeing virtually the entire State Budget, and didn't neglect his personal business. Today, he owns five companies, whose areas of operation range from tourism to fuel distribution. It is precisely in the cauldron where politics and business mix that Jorge Murad sank even deeper last week.

The Federal Police's investigation into Lunus's office in São Luís, a company owned by Roseana and Murad, uncovered a document that only reinforces suspicions of the couple's involvement in the million-dollar fraud at the old Sudam. Among the items seized by the police is Lunus's "chart of accounts," a document similar to accounting. In this "chart of accounts," there is a specific space to describe Lunus's "assets" and "investments" – and there, right there, appears the name of Agrima Agricultura, Indústria e Comércio de Calcário Ltda. This information is extremely explosive for two reasons. The first: Agrima is suspected of having embezzled between 10 and 15 million reais from Sudam, in an agricultural project called Nova Holanda. The second reason is that Jorge Murad has always denied having any commercial relationship with Agrima. It was known that Lunus and Agrima had only been partners until 1994. The "chart of accounts" discovered now refers to the year 2000. And it suggests that Lunus maintains a commercial relationship of "assets" and "investments" with Agrima, which is suspected of having broken into Sudam's coffers. So, what now, Jorge?

Contacted by VEJA last week, Jorge Murad, true to his style of minimal exposure and maximum silence, did not give an interview. This is a very delicate matter. The suspicion once again forms that explosive cauldron of politics and business. When the full content of the documents seized by the police at Murad and Roseana's company is analyzed, attention must be paid to this explosive detail about Agrima. If what is currently an indication is demonstrated, the country will know that Jorge Murad and his wife, a candidate for President of the Republic, have a hidden partnership with a company involved in fraudulent activities at Sudam. In the raid on Lunus's office, the Federal Police also seized a list of contributors to Roseana Sarney's campaigns. There, it is noted that the good commercial relationship between the companies also extended to the political sphere. In 1994, when Roseana ran for her first term as governor of Maranhão, Nova Holanda contributed 50,000 reais, in today's values, to her electoral campaign. In 1998, it returned to the candidate's coffers: 25,000 reais.

Jorge Murad is a discreet man who likes to stay out of the spotlight. His rare interviews are usually given only to TV Globo in Maranhão, owned by the Sarney family. Even while operating behind the scenes of power, first during his father-in-law's tenure at the Planalto Palace and now in his wife's government in Maranhão, Murad always ends up attracting attention – and in the most noisy way. During the Sarney government, for months he was the main character of a CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) created to investigate corruption allegations. At the time, it was suspected that the adjustment of contracts with federal contractors and suppliers was a "friends deal." The investigation produced a tremendous uproar, ended inconclusively, but earned Murad an eternal enemy: the then Minister of Planning under Sarney, Aníbal Teixeira. The former minister, in a book published in 1988 titled Calúnia (Slander), alleges that he was fired because he did not yield to Murad's lobby in favor of large construction companies. "He exerted constant pressure and acted not out of purely political or disinterested interests," says Teixeira.

Murad's relationships with construction companies are old. During the Sarney government, underground whispers spoke of Murad's involvement in suspected overpricing of the Cabeça de Cavalo hydroelectric plant, a project of over 1 billion reais built by the construction company Odebrecht. In 1988, when he separated from Roseana, with whom he would reconcile six years later, Murad left Sarney's government and decided to move from Brasília to Rio de Janeiro. There, he began living in an apartment lent by João Mussurunga, who had worked as a lobbyist for the construction company OAS in Brasília – the same company that would later become the queen of social funds in Fernando Collor's government. The friendship between the two has never faded. Today, the former OAS lobbyist, after holding other positions in Roseana's government, is the governor's private secretary. In Murad's biography, there is no conviction nor proven accusations, but his name almost always appears on the fringes of shady deals.

The son of a modest family, who in the 1970s owned a school canteen and a bakery, Murad became a wealthy man – in money and in trouble. Between 1975 and 1976, when he was beginning the career that would make him rich, he experienced his first mishap. A company owned by the businessman's uncle went bankrupt. It was a babassu oil processing plant that, upon failing, lost the ability to pay some debts. Its machines were then seized, and Murad was appointed as the custodian. As the debts were not paid, he ended up at the police station accused of being a defaulting custodian. It was an embarrassing setback, but one that can happen in the life of a businessman in difficulty. There was only one detail that, nowadays, becomes curious. The accountant for the bankrupt company was Aldenor da Cunha Rebouças – who currently owns the consultancy AC Rebouças in São Luís, accused of being the Maranhão hub for the production of irregular projects at Sudam.

In 1976, Murad married Roseana for the first time. It was the union of two clans. Since then, the businessman and his family have left behind the times of canteens and bakeries. Today, they own a respectable menu of urban and rural properties. The Sarney clan, however, finds no equal competitor in the state. Since entering politics 46 years ago, patriarch José Sarney has spent little more than three years without a mandate, right at the beginning of his career. Even so, he has built one of the most impressive fortunes amassed by a politician. In Maranhão, in a humorous hyperbole, it is often said that the Sarneys don't own the sea. Built by the former president amidst his political endeavors, the Sarneys' visible fortune is almost entirely registered in the names of their children. In the business sector, the clan owns four television stations, which broadcast Rede Globo's programming throughout the state. The group also controls the newspaper O Estado do Maranhão, the largest daily in São Luís. It also owns fourteen radio stations spread across the capital and the interior.

In real estate, the Sarneys are also successful. In São Luís, the clan's headquarters is the Casa do Calhau, a colonial mansion, surrounded by babassu coconut trees, which occupies an entire block (about 20,000 square meters) in the city's noblest area. There, Sarney cultivates pomegranate trees during the winter and receives friends for intimate conversations. For leisure, the Sarneys have Ilha do Curupu, a private environmental reserve located near São Luís, which can only be reached by boat or plane. The area is about 2,500 hectares and is one of the few assets inherited by the family. The island houses a mansion and will soon receive another: the house being built by the couple Jorge Murad and Roseana Sarney. Including properties in Brasília (two mansions in Lago Sul, the city's noblest neighborhood, plus a farm) and Rio de Janeiro (an apartment in Leblon and a house in the trendy resort town of Búzios), the Sarneys' visible assets reach 125 million reais.

Between 1988 and 1994, the period he was separated from Roseana, the first son-in-law decided to dedicate himself to business and stayed somewhat away from the shadows of power. During this period, he created three of the five companies he has to this day: Bel-Sul Administração e Participações, Lunus Serviços e Participações, and Pousada dos Lençóis. Murad is also a partner in two other firms, Credita Factoring and Agrodiesel Lubrificantes e Diesel, both inactive. With Roseana's election as governor of the state in 1994, Murad resumed his practice of operating on the fringes of power. In his first term, he headed the Secretariat of Planning. In his second term, his participation was even more intense, reminiscent of the times he operated in his father-in-law's Planalto Palace. He took over Roseana's main government secretariat. He controls vital areas such as economy, industry, commerce, science, technology, tourism, and agriculture. If something doesn't go through Murad, it means it's not important. If it is, Murad is there.

For example. One of Piauí's largest businessmen, João Claudino, owner of a conglomerate of companies, was trying to build a shopping mall in São Luís. He intended to locate it near the Tropical Shopping Center, with 170 stores, a partnership between members of the Murad family. It would be quite competitive to have two shopping malls so close to each other, but the deal wasn't moving forward – until whispers began to suggest it would never advance unless Murad had a stake in the new mall. Nothing was confirmed, but the deal only moved forward after João Claudino admitted businessman Miguel Ethel, from São Paulo, an old friend of Jorge Murad, as a partner in the venture. The first son-in-law has a knack for always having his friends installed in positions relevant to his own business. Another example. The building in São Luís where Murad's companies, including Lunus, which was raided by the PF, are headquartered, was built on land that is now in the name of the construction company Pleno, whose main shareholder, Severino Francisco Cabral, is a friend and partner of Murad.

One of the good deals that the Maranhão government provided to contractors was the construction of the road leading to a park in the Lençóis Maranhenses region, one of the paradises of the state's coastline. The highway, which reduced travel time from the capital to this part of the coast by five hours, cost the state government 37.5 million reais. The construction company hired for the job is called Sucesso – and its owner happens to be that same businessman from Piauí, João Claudino, who had so much difficulty building a shopping mall in São Luís. João Claudino, since entering into partnership with Murad's friend, has nothing to complain about. His construction company, in both of Roseana's terms, has secured six lucrative contracts with the state government.

Two weeks ago, José Sarney learned that supporters of José Serra (from the PSDB party) were spreading a scandalous story about his family: that Fernando Sarney, the son who manages the clan's businesses, had received a 53 million reais bribe in the privatization of the state electricity company of Maranhão, Cemar, sold for about 600 million reais. "53 million in bribe money? Imagine such a thing," Sarney reacted upon hearing the story. Whoever spread it also added that the company that bought Cemar, the American PPL from Pennsylvania, had discovered the bribe payment. Today, PPL – for reasons unknown – seems uninterested in the deal and wants to return the electric company to the state. If this happens, it will be another major problem, which, because of its magnitude, will certainly fall on Jorge Murad's lap. And he, to face so many difficulties, has never complained of excessive work or lack of salary. As far as can be seen, he felt, at least until last week, comfortable navigating between politics and business.