Andrés Sanchez expelled from Corinthians’ membership after council vote | OneFootball

Corinthians’ Conselho Deliberativo voted on Monday night to expel former president Andrés Sanchez from the club’s membership at Parque São Jorge. According to Meu Timao, the motion passed and Sanchez is no longer part of the quadro associativo.

Of 167 voters, 112 backed expulsion and 49 opposed, with six abstentions. Before the vote, ex-president Mário Gobbi sought to replace the open, nominal ballot, but acting chair Leonardo Pantaleão rejected the request.

Councillors voted on a report by Pantaleão recommending expulsion over alleged irregular use of a club corporate card for personal expenses of about R$ 480,000 between 2018 and 2021. Rodrigo Bittar of the Ethics Committee presented the conclusions, after which Sanchez’s defence addressed members.

The inquiry began in August under the Comissão de Justiça, shortly before the São Paulo state prosecutor’s office charged Sanchez in October with misappropriation, money laundering and falsification of a tax document. He then took leave from his lifetime councillor post and from the Conselho de Orientação.

The São Paulo Court of Justice’s Second Court for tax crimes, criminal organisation and money laundering initially threw out the laundering and forgery counts. That ruling was suspended after prosecutors filed a motion alleging partiality in the case.

Investigators identified more than 200 expenses across 31 invoices from August 2018 to February 2021. Prosecutors seek repayment of about R$ 480,000 plus 75% in moral damages, taking the claim above R$ 1.1 million. Sanchez led Corinthians from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2018 to 2020, later becoming a lifetime councillor and ex officio member of the Cori.

Source: Meu Timao