On Saturday (3), Journal Nacional revealed that the priest had received permission from the government to negotiate the purchase of vaccines for Brazil. On Monday (5), JN will show that the official website of the Ministry of Health has recorded these negotiations conducted by someone who has nothing to do with the file.
The entity that negotiated vaccines on behalf of the Ministry of Health was born in 1999 and named Senar – the National Secretariat for Religious Affairs. In 2020, Sana became the National Secretariat for Humanitarian Affairs. Despite its name, Sana is a private organization rather than a government agency.
The founder and president of the entity is Reverend Amilton Gomez de Paula. His names and that of Sina appear in a series of emails that Lauricio Monteiro Cruz, director of immunization at the Ministry of Health, sent to Herman Cárdenas, president of the Davati medical supplies company, the Journal Nacional showed on Saturday.
On March 9, the Director of Immunization at the Ministry of Health, Lauricio Cruz, gave a guarantee to Reverend Amilton to negotiate with Davati the purchase of 400 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, on behalf of the Brazilian government, even though he learned that the US company is not an official representative of the laboratory.
A day later, March 10, the negotiations were formalized in the electronic information system of the Ministry of Health, and in less than half an hour, the process was sent to the office of the Executive Secretariat responsible for the procurement of vaccines.
Access to the electronic process is restricted, but Jornal Nacional has obtained two documents attached to the system.
A letter from Senah, in English, was sent to the Ministry of Health and Davati saying: “This letter of intent is directed to demonstrate the urgent and imminent interest of our Brazilian government in contracting and authorizing the seller to obtain the supply of 400 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.” The letter signed by Reverend Amilton is dated March 4.
The electronic process also contains another letter signed by Reverend Amilton. It is addressed to Hermann Cárdenas, President of Davati, and begins: “Our institution is urgently requesting a copy of the vaccine package from AstraZeneca located in the field of Senah, so that we can present it at an extraordinary meeting with the Brazilian Federal Government.”
SGS is the name of the certification company, which certifies that the product meets the required specifications.
Defate’s representative in Brazil, Cristiano Carvalho, confirmed to JN, by phone, that he met with Elsio Franco, the health ministry’s executive secretary, on March 12, at 10:05 a.m. Elsio Franco was removed from his position on March 26.
During the negotiations, a representative of Sina presented to Daftati the names of two companies in the United States and suggested that any commission be paid through them, should the purchase of 400 million doses be completed.
The list includes DFRF Golden Angel Foundation Corporation and DFRF American Golden Eagle Trading Company, which are located in Florida. The email and name of Amilton Gomes de Paula appear to be associated with the two companies, along with their banking details.
DFRF Golden Angel is registered as a non-profit entity. Directors include Pastor Amilton and Daniel Fernandez. Daniel Fernandez is Daniel Fernandez Rojo Filho. In 2015, the Brazilian was arrested in the United States for involvement in a multi-million dollar scam. Her company, DFRF Enterprises, was to handle more than $12 million in a financial pyramid scheme.
On Monday, the Journal Nacional returned to find Reverend Amilton by phone, but he did not answer. Sana’s website. JN teams were also at Senah’s address in Brasilia. The person who received them confirmed that the entity exists, but said he did not know Reverend Amilton.
In an interview with reporter Giuliana Moroni, director Lauricio Cruz said he was called to negotiate with Reverend Amilton without knowing exactly what it was about. He confirmed that he received it in his office. He stated that negotiations are underway and that he sent an email to the CEO of Davati in the United States, indicating the name of the esteemed for negotiations with the ministry.
Laurisio admitted that the ministry had not checked the suitability of people who were able to schedule meetings to deliver the vaccines and admitted that if the allegations and suspicions were confirmed, the proposal was, at least, a deception.
“At least a scam. At least, a scam. Let’s put it that way,” he said.
JN was unable to contact Daniel Fernandes, partner of Reverend Amilton Gomes de Paula, and had no return from the Department of Health and Civil Home.
