The Federal Police (PF) found no evidence of crime on the part of the Rio Grande do Sul wineries in the case involving the investigation of work analogous to slavery. According to police chief Adriano Medeiros do Amaral, the evidence does not indicate direct participation by companies in the crime of exploiting workers.
The case came to light in February. After a complaint, the police rescued 207 people in situations analogous to slavery. They worked in the grape harvest in Bento Gonçalves, in Rio Grande do Sul. The service was outsourced by Aurora, Salton and Garibaldi wineries.
“Until now, and we’ve researched a lot about it, in the evidence we had here, we haven’t found any evidence of participation of the wineries in the crime”, highlighted the PF delegate.
According to Amaral, what was identified is “a contract for the supply of labor by an outsourced company”. For this reason, the investigation is concentrated on this company, which is Fênix Serviços Administrativos e Apoio à Gestão em Saúde Ltda.
Last week, the Aurora, Salton and Garibaldi wineries, which used the labor supplied by the investigated company, signed an agreement with the Ministry of Labor. The wineries will pay R$ 7 million as compensation.