On May 31, 2022, the company Hypera S.A. (Hypera) entered into a Leniency Agreement with the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU) and the Office of the Attorney General of the Union (AGU). The negotiations began at the initiative of Hypera in 2020, which reached out to the authorities after identifying the occurrence of irregularities provided for in Law N. 12,846/2013, known as the Brazilian Anti-Corruption Law, and also in Law N. 8,429/1992, known as the Brazilian Administrative Improbity Law. The irregularities were identified through an internal investigation, which was conducted after the outbreak of “Operation Tira-Teima”, conducted by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) in 2018.
In short, the internal investigation identified that undue payments were made by the company, in the amount of BRL110.557 million, in addition to BRL 33.195 million that was the subject of a Transaction Term signed with Mr. Nelson José de Mello, Hypera’s former director, who acknowledged his obligation to indemnify the company.
The Leniency Agreement establishes that Hypera must pay the Federal Government the total amount of BRL 110,882,122.19, which, as informed by the company itself, will be fully paid by its major shareholder, João Alves de Queiroz Filho. In addition, Hypera has committed to renewing and improving its governance and integrity policies, including the necessary control mechanisms, which will be monitored by CGU during a 18-month period.
The Agreement was seen with good eyes by the market, given the significant rise in Hypera’s stock price after the communication was officially published. As such, the Agreement reinforces the strengthening of this consensual method of resolution in cases involving illicit conducts related to corruption and demonstrates the importance of a company having a high degree of excellence in its integrity program.
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