Partidos e campanhas políticas - doações legais realizadas por meio de recursos com origens ilícitas: os profissionais contábeis têm a obrigação de investigar a origem dos recursos?

Abstract

Faced with the legal limits for donations to political parties and candidates, large companies are being investigated and accused of committing crimes such as: slush fund, money laundering, among others to sustain the millionaire political campaigns. The current accounting structure and the country's electoral legislation, to be followed by donor companies and political parties, a professional is present on both sides of the process: the accounting professional. Using qualitative and exploratory bibliographical research, this study aimed to verify if the accountants responsible for the elaboration and accountability of the electoral campaigns have the obligation to investigate, identify and denounce any unlawful acts related to the accomplishment of legal donations with the use of resources with illicit origins. According to the legislation, the accounting professional must, with caution and diligence, ensure the proper classification of the revenues collected and the expenses incurred during the electoral process, as well as the safeguard when guiding the candidates on the risks and impossibilities of the use of resources from unidentified sources or from unseen sources. Considering the bibliography presented, the legislation does not provide for the accountant any complementary measures when legal donations are received from individuals or legal entities, legally not prohibited from contributing to the electoral process. Thus, accounting professionals are not in a position to identify whether or not legal donations have originated in illegal resources.