Nóvoa de Noronha
1 December 2012. Even as President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil has moved energetically to stamp out corruption in her government, a new scandal is surging to the front, centered on charges of influence peddling by an aide to the popular former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The scheme largely involved selling falsified public documents needed for transportation projects, and it extended into the attorney general’s office, the Education Ministry and the regulatory agencies for civil aviation and ports. These revelations came out after federal police raids of government offices in São Paulo and in the capital, Brasília, in recent days. In the centre of the scandal is the former head of the presidential office here in São Paulo, Ms. Nóvoa de Noronha. She was named for this position by Mr. da Silva in 2003. She was dismissed last Saturday. She wielded influence because of her proximity to Mr. da Silva. She obtained a diplomatic passport and accompanied him on trips to 23 countries from 2007 to 2010. Investigators say she also assisted Paulo Vieira, a regulatory official who organized the false-documents scheme. She also obtained strategic-level postings for at least two officials in the scheme, including Mr. Vieira, in addition to well-paid public jobs for her daughter and husband. Senior figures in the Workers Party have said it would be wrong to associate Mr. da Silva with Ms. Nóvoa de Noronha. José Chrispiniano, a spokesman here for Mr. da Silva, declined to comment on the matter, saying that nothing was found linking the former president to the investigation.
