Rodrigo Silveirinha Corrêa

Rodrigo Silveirinha Corrêa worked for 12 years as a Tax Inspector and later as a deputy head of the state tax-collection office in the State of Rio Janeiro, Brazil. He was appointed during the mandate of former governor Anthony Garotinho of the PMDB party. During the 12 years he presided over a corrupt tax regime that deprived the Brazilian state millons of tax revenue. The corrupt practices were only known in January 2003 when the Swiss court froze money held in a Swiss Bank amounting to US$ 33 million. The accounts were in the name of tax inspectors whom companies had allegedly bribed to cover up unpaid taxes or fines for noncompliance with tax provisions. This fradulent tax scheme is named 'The Propinoduto Case'. 1 In July 2003 Silveirinha was accused by the Brazilian authorities of transmitting money to off shore accounts and also for crimes of tax evasion, money laundering, passive corruption, deviation of funds and formation of a criminal group. A total of 22 tax inspectors, including Rodrigo Silverinha Corrêa, have already been prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to prison terms of various lenghts ranging from two years and six months to 20 years and six months. The ruling was upheld in 2007 by the high court. The former governor is under investugation to establish his level of involvement in the fraud. Defendants maintained that they were innocant in their plea. 2