Corinthians candidate reveals firm pledging $1bn investment | OneFootball

On Thursday night, 21, triennial councilor André Castro, a candidate for president of Corinthians in the internal elections of the Deliberative Council (CD) that will take place on Monday, 25, gave a press conference where he presented the name of the company that, according to a letter presented during the event, promises to invest up to US$ 1 billion (approximately R$ 5.4 billion) in the club.

It is the São Paulo Group, presented in the letter as GSP Banco de Fomento Mercantil Ltda., which operates under the names GSP Bank of Assets and GSP Gestão de Crédito. The document presented is signed by the company's CEO, Carlos Cesar Arruda, and contains only one page, starting with an explanation about the "internal and external" performance of the financial institution and expressing interest in establishing a "strategic partnership" with Corinthians. The initiative, however, is conditioned exclusively to the election of André Castro.

Photo: Reproduction/YouTube

The text continues, stating that the bank would commit to "making a financial contribution of up to US$ 1,000,000,000.00 (one billion dollars)" if the councilor takes office as president. The money would be destined for the "structural and institutional strengthening of the club", in addition to citing issues such as the modernization of the Neo Química Arena and "strategic initiatives already in joint development" in other areas such as marketing, grassroots categories and professional football – without, however, making explicit any of these initiatives.

The letter also claims that these projects were "previously discussed and structured over a considerable period", and argues that "confering security to the institution to proceed with the investment plan under the leadership of André Castro. Additionally, it informs "at the right time" other companies of the group will be incorporated into the project, without defining a date but stating that it would only happen after Castro's inauguration as president.

It also drew attention to the exhibition of two seals at the bottom of the letter, linking GSP to B3 (São Paulo Stock Exchange) and ANNA (Association of National Numbering Agencies) – the latter brings together entities capable of generating the ISIN ("International Securities Identification Number"), which encodes financial titles under an international standard. However, in a search on the B3 website, no company linked to GSP was found, and furthermore, the only Brazilian company affiliated with ANNA is B3 itself.

During the interview, the candidate did not explain his relationship with the GSP Group, stating that the initiative of the project arose from him when he approached the company and denying that he would receive any kind of commission if the partnership were to be formalized. He also argued that it is not the only company sought by him: there would still be "Plans B, C and D", in his words. But who is the GSP Group and its CEO Carlos Cesar Arruda?

Gaps and inconsistencies

The Central do Timão began its research on the official website of GSP Holding, which defines the group as "a 100% Brazilian company, with great pride", listing various principles and values. There are some information gaps, however: the company's CNPJ is not displayed at the bottom of the website, and the links that should redirect to Arruda's profile and his letters of recommendation are broken.

The virtual address still displays the profile of a branch of the group called Instituto GSP, coordinated by Gilka Aparecida Ferreira, and whose purpose would be to "support projects that aim to improve the quality of life of the human being, regardless of age or creed".

The company also explains its corporate governance, detailing a structure formed by the General Assembly, Board of Directors, Audit Committee, Fiscal Council and Executive Board. The website does not inform, however, the names of the members of these groups.

In its "National" tab, the website displays 11 subdivisions of the GSP group: Agribusiness, Environmental, Antiques, Autocar, Development Bank, Bank, Commodities, Construction, Holding, Mining and Trading. However, it is striking that only the subgroups Agribusiness, Environmental, Construction, Mining and Trading have valid links, with their own content. The Commodities subgroup accesses a pdf file on the subject and the others direct to non-existent pages or to the "home" of the website.

In the "International" tab, four more subgroups are listed: Bolivia, Inversiones, London and Turkey. However, none of them direct to a specific page about the subsidiary. Furthermore, a search on the UK Government's Company Search Service found that GSP Fomento Mercantil London, founded on April 17, 2018, was dissolved on November 3, 2020, therefore almost five years ago (see below).

Photo: Reproduction

The "News" and "Events" tabs do not have any text registered, and the "Success Stories" tab contains five short videos, reporting investments in corn planting, school construction and mining. There is, however, no indication of the values invested nor date, location or beneficiaries of the projects.

Finally, after 10:30 pm, the company's website began to display a pop-up, with a text similar to the letter signed by Arruda and exhibited by Castro, reinforcing the alleged commitment to the financial contribution to Corinthians in case of the councilor's election (see below).

Photo: Reproduction

Social networks stopped

The research on social networks was done mainly through the Estatísticas Corinthianas page on X (formerly Twitter) and checked by Central do Timão, which confirmed that the group's profiles are, at the very least, quite discreet. On Instagram, for example, it was possible to identify two profiles created in April 2020: GSP Banco, with 201 followers, and GSP Holding, with 71 followers. Both contain the same two posts and are currently private.

On Facebook, only GSP Holding has a profile, with 58 likes and exactly 19 posts, most of which are updates on the website or tributes to employees. On its Google page, the company had only one negative review (one star out of five possible) until, in the last 24 hours before the press conference, 13 other reviews were published, all giving the maximum score to the company.

On LinkedIn, a well-known corporate social network, there are no records of a profile for GSP Holding or GSP Bank. Arruda has a profile, but without a photo or further details of his professional background or publications about the companies. Finally, Reclame Aqui has a page with four complaints about GSP Bank, only one of which was answered five years ago.

Photo: Reproduction

Finances

In a search on the website of the Goiás Commercial Board, it was possible to find 25 records (some repeated) of companies in Carlos César Arruda's CPF, one of which is GSP Gestão de Crédito e Desenvolvimento Mercantil Ltda (CNPJ 12.996.538/0001-87), whose trade name is GSP Bank of Assets. This is the company that appears in the document presented by André Castro on Thursday.

On the Federal Revenue website, GSP Bank registers as its main activity "Sociedades de fomento mercantil – factoring". It is important to note, however, that factoring does not configure as banking activity, and therefore companies that practice it are not regulated by the Central Bank.

Because of this, a factoring company cannot, in theory, present itself as a bank. The main difference is that while a bank intermediates finance by capturing resources from the public and lending to third parties, a factoring company only works with its own resources in the purchase of receivables.

It was also possible to find that GSP Bank had its opening registered on December 3, 2010, and although it declares a capital stock of R$ 6.57 billion, it is framed as a small company, with a number of employees between 10 and 49 in total and revenue between R$ 240 thousand and R$ 2.4 million/year.

Photo: Reproduction

Processes

The editorial also consulted the PROJUDI system of the Court of Justice (TJ) of Goiás, the company's headquarters, which returned 22 processes against Arruda, three of which are under judicial secrecy, in addition to four processes against GSP Bank, one of which is under judicial secrecy. It was not possible, however, to access their contents.

In the e-SAJ system, of the TJ of São Paulo, two other processes were found against Arruda, one of R$ 3 million related to commissions, and another of R$ 54,965.73 related to an eviction process filed against the businessman due to delays in rent payments – both are in progress. There are no processes against GSP Bank in the state.

It was also possible to find a process against GSP Bank in the Council for Financial Activities Control (Coaf), judged on December 14, 2022. In it, the agency condemned the company and its CEO to the payment of fines of R$ 10 thousand and R$ 5 thousand, respectively, for the infraction of "Non-communication of absence of operations or proposals that must be communicated to Coaf when exercising the factoring activity".

Check the GSP note in full

"We from GSP Banco de Fomento Mercantil Ltda, with the trade name GSP Bank of Assets and GSP Gestão de Crédito, a financial institution with internal and external areas of operation, hereby publicly express our interest in consolidating a strategic partnership with Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, conditioned to the election of candidate André Castro for the presidency of the club.

In the event of his election and inauguration, as described above, we commit to making a financial contribution of up to US$ 1,000,000,000.00 (one billion dollars), for the structural and institutional strengthening of the club. This investment will cover not only the financial restructuring and modernization of the Arena Corinthians, but also a series of strategic initiatives already in joint development with the group, involving infrastructure, marketing, grassroots categories, professional football and new revenue models.

It is worth noting that such projects have been discussed and structured over a considerable period, which gives the bank security to proceed with the investment plan under the leadership of André Castro, as predetermined.

Additionally, we inform that, at the right time, other brands and companies linked to the group will also be presented, which will integrate the project, expanding the potential for value generation and long-term sustainability.

This commitment will be formalized in definitive legal instruments, observing the applicable legal and regulatory conditions, in compliance with the order of Mr. André Castro as president of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista."

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.