Collor aides 'formed embezzlement gang'

(First Edition)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Aug 23, (Reuter) Even Before President Fernando Collor de Mello took office two years ago, his friends and aides advisers mounted an operation to make money through influence-peddling, the author of a congressional report on government corruption says.

While Mr Collor and his would-be future ministers were meeting to decide future policies, his cronies were mapping strategies 'to obtain illicit and illegal advantages and benefits', the introduction to a congressional report on alleged corruption in the Collor government says.

The scathing introduction, written by Senator Amir Lando of the opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, was published in yesterday's Jornal do Brasil. newspaper on Sunday.' In the shadow of administrative reform a new industry of influence peddling flourished,' it says.

'Friends and campaign collaborators of the President of the republic organised themselves and became identified as co-authors of a script whose theme was that it was important to know . . . how to unblock cruzados novos (Brazilian currency frozen in bank accounts), how to obtain contracts without opening up for bidding, how to win when bidding,' the introduction says.

'They became merchandise for which businessmen and others were prepared to pay incredible and unjustified prices.'

A full report by the congressional commission probing investigating alleged corruption in Mr Collor's administration government was due is to be released on Monday. today. The commission was set up after Mr Collor's younger brother Pedro charged alleged that the President's election campaign treasurer, Paulo Cesar Farias, was behind a vast influence peddling network.

Congress has documents that allegedly show Farias, known as PC, deposited millions of dollars in the account of Collor's personal secretary, Ana Acioli. Acioli used the account to pay the first family's expenses.

After the commission votes on the report on Wednesday a motion to open an impeachment process against the president is expected to be brought before the lower house of Congress.

'The nation awaits immediate and rigorous punishment of the guilty,' the introduction to the report says.'