On Wednesday (30), Bruno Tolentino, uncle of player Lucas Paquetá, remained silent during his testimony at the CPI das Apostas in the Senate.
Supported by a habeas corpus from the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Tolentino chose not to answer the questions, which led the CPI to consider breaking his banking, telephone and telematic secrecy.
The president of the CPI, senator Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO), assured that the request will be presented soon. The session with Tolentino lasted less than 15 minutes, during which he only responded that he has two children. In other questions, he remained silent, following the advice of his lawyers.
Questions to Lucas Paquetá’s uncle
Kajuru criticized Tolentino’s stance, especially in relation to the investigation involving his nephew, Lucas Paquetá. The player, who plays for West Ham, in England, is the target of an investigation by the English Football Association on suspicion of deliberately receiving cards in Premier League games.
Paquetá’s testimony, initially scheduled for the same day, was postponed to December 3 at the request of the player’s defense. Kajuru revealed that Tolentino, in a private conversation, had said that the accusations were “a lie”, but refused to repeat this publicly.
The senator asked: “Do you, as a father, think it is normal to remain silent on all questions, but, at the same time, in the room, say that what is said about your nephew Paquetá is all a lie? By not answering anything, you leave a question for the entire Brazilian society. The Paquetá case is ongoing.”
According to the call-up request presented by Kajuru, Bruno Tolentino would have profited from bets related to the cards received by Paquetá.
Furthermore, he and his son Yan would have transferred R$40,000 to the player Luiz Henrique (Botafogo), after matches in which the striker received yellow cards while playing in Spanish football, which could constitute game manipulation. The CPI is also considering calling Luiz Henrique to testify.
New testimonials
At the same time, the CPI approved invitations for seven referees dismissed by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) after controversial decisions in the Brazilian Championship.
Thus, the referees called are Ramon Abatti Abel, Braulio da Silva Machado and Flávio Rodrigues de Souza. Diego Pombo Lopez, Pablo Ramon, Rodrigo Guarizo Ferreira do Amaral and José Claudio Rocha Filho will also receive invitations. Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) presented the request.
