The Respondent Firm (“Respondent”) submitted a proposal to extend a contract under the Fiscal Management Strengthening Project of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (the “Program”). The Office of Institutional Integrity (“OII”) submitted a Statement of Charges and Evidence against the Respondent for allegedly engaging in a fraudulent practice related to the Program. OII accused the Respondent of submitting false certificates in order to meet the requirements to extend the contract. Consequently, and in accordance with the Sanctions Procedures, the Sanctions Officer (“SO”) issued a Notice of Administrative Action (“Notice”) to the Respondent. The Respondent did not submit a Response to the Notice.

In the Determination, the SO found that it was more likely than not that the Respondent engaged in a fraudulent practice. As a result, the SO imposed a sanction of debarment for a period of three (3) years, during which time the Respondent will be ineligible to participate or be awarded contracts in projects or activities financed by the Bank Group.

In accordance with the Sanctions Procedures, the sanction imposed entered into force immediately and the Bank provided notice of the Respondent’s declaration of ineligibility to the other Multilateral Development Banks that are a party to the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions.