Date: 7 Oct 92 15:24:01
From: Moderators <tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu>
Subject: File 7--Brazilian Politics in Need of Encryption?

Sometimes those suspected of massive offenses should either learn to
use computers properly or else not commit crimes.  The current
Brazilian political scandals, which threaten to topple President
Fernando Collor de Mello, escalated this week when Brazilian
investigators began exploring the computer files of a man reportedly
at the center of the political corruption, Paulo Cesar ("PC") Farias.
According to an article in England's GUARDIAN WEEKLY (Oct 4, 1992 -
thanks to Bruce Sterling for sending it over), unencrypted data files
may provide considerable information describing the extent of his
involvement in Brazilian corruption.  According to the article:

    Under the filename "Collor", they ((the investigators)) had
    found a list of several of the biggest government ministries,
    beneath each of which were listed in methodical fashion the
    main projects in that ministry, the value of the contracts
    allocated and the commissions charged.

        One of the most interesting entries concerned the Xingo
    hydro-electric power station--the only large development
    project undertaken by the Collor government.

        This project, involving a consortium of large Brazilian
    construction companies, including Mendes Junior and Odebrecht,
    has long aroused suspicion, largely because its costs soared
    $1.5 billion over budget. Now, thanks to PC's meticulous
    accounting, the federal police, working with the tax
    inspectors, believe they will be able to find out where most
    of the extra money went.

        One aspect of the listing remains baffling. At the end of
    each entry PC wrote the name of a star or constellation: the
    Southern Cross, the Great Bear, the Milky Way, Orion.  These
    heavenly bodies, the accountants guess but cannot yet
    demonstrate, are probably codenames for sensitive information
    that PC did not want to entrust to his computer--the names of
    the powerful economic groups paying the commissions.

                            ...........

        Though part of the computer files are damaged, the
    inspectors say they are finding enough evidence to establish
    the size of the corruption network and the president's close
    involvement in it.

Perhaps somebody could send Brazilian crooks a copy of Phil's Pretty
Good Encryption program and the investigators a registered version of
Norton Utilities.

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