Corinthians seek seven missing invoices from Andrés’ era, not shown to prosecutors | OneFootball

The Justice and Ethics Committees of Corinthians and the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office (MP-SP) have not yet received all the corporate card statements that may have been used by Andrés Sanchez during his last term as club president. Upon reviewing the documents received, both the committees and the MP identified the absence of statements for the first seven months of the administration, meaning the gap runs from January to July 2018.

The statements received by the Justice Committee and the MP cover the period from August 2018 to December 2020. The documents pertaining to the seven months prior to this period, were not presented.

Where are the statements?

According to Gazeta Esportiva, in the first half of 2018, Corinthians had only one corporate card, from American Express. This card was available and under the responsibility of the board for any club needs, so there was no specific card for the president or any other management member.

Moreover, Timão was facing problems with Amex due to default, and therefore did not have bank approval to register new dependents and obtain additional cards.

At the time, the Corinthians board went to the market and evaluated conditions to formalize a partnership that included transferring the club employees' payroll. The chosen financial institution was Santander bank. The club closed a deal, was able to register other cards, and from that moment on, the president was granted this privilege.

The card assigned to Andrés Sanchez was activated in July and began to be used in August. Thus, statements started arriving at the club from September 2018, with charges from the previous month. Before this period, expenses were not individualized.

(Photo: Daniel Augusto Jr/Ag. Corinthians)

Different strategies

The Justice and Ethics Committees of Corinthians, as well as the MP, believe that it is necessary to investigate the seven statements that have not been delivered so far, even if the expenses were not exclusively those of the president. However, the club and the MP will adopt different strategies for this.

The Public Prosecutor's Office, led by prosecutor Cassio Roberto Conserino in this case, is not expected to demand that Corinthians send the statements, at least initially. According to Gazeta Esportiva, the MP believes it will gain access to the statements for the indicated period through a bank secrecy breach.

The club's Justice Committee, together with the Ethics Committee, on the other hand, decided not to wait for the MP and took the initiative by requesting the current financial department to deliver the missing statements. This information was confirmed by the vice president of the Deliberative Council and president of the Ethics Committee, Leonardo Pantaleão, in a note sent to the press.

“In fact, the statements presented so far cover the period from August 2018, when the club started operating with Banco Santander. However, in the exercise of the functions assigned to me by the president of the Deliberative Council, Dr. Romeu Tuma Jr., and representing the Ethics Committee alongside the Justice Committee, I requested the Financial Department to also forward the American Express card statements for the period from January to July 2018. The goal is to ensure that the analysis carried out by the internal Committees covers the entirety of the former president’s second term, ensuring transparency, completeness, and technical rigor throughout the verification process,” said the official in the statement.

What Corinthians says

Gazeta Esportiva contacted Corinthians, which responded via an official statement. The club maintains that it delivered to the MP all requested documents relating to former presidents Andrés Sanchez, Duilio Monteiro Alves, and Augusto Melo (from 2018 to 2025). Since there was no presidential card in the first seven months of Andrés’ administration, Timão did not send the statements for that semester, something the current management, led by Osmar Stabile, will not oppose doing if formally requested.

Andrés Sanchez, although he has neither autonomy nor responsibility for delivering the statements to the requesting authorities, was given the opportunity to comment after Gazeta contacted the former president’s defense. As of the publication of this article, there has been no response. Should Andrés choose to comment on the case, this text will be updated.

Suspicious expenses

Last week, the Justice Committee received from Corinthians’ financial department the statements for the three years of Andrés Sanchez’s term, between 2018 and 2020, and identified R$ 190,000 in suspicious expenses. Therefore, the committee summoned former directors who were responsible at the time for overseeing card use to provide clarification: Matias Ávila (former finance director), Osmar Basílio (former president of the Fiscal Council), and Guilherme Gonçalves Strenger (former president of Cori).

The Committee initially listed 50 expenses, identifying locations and amounts that together total R$ 190,523.54. Among the main charges separated and reviewed by the JC are expenses with hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, furniture and electronics stores, as well as costs with an air taxi company and automotive centers.

The members of the Corinthians Justice Committee believe there is no evidence that these purchases were made for club use or at the president’s request. The expenses do not have any supporting documentation attached.

In addition, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested from Corinthians, between September 26 and 29, data and explanations about more than 50 questionable purchases made by the former president. Cassio Roberto Conserino, the prosecutor responsible for the case, set a deadline of ten calendar days for the club’s board to send the responses.

The MP’s intention, amid the investigation into alleged improper personal expenses, is to understand which events related to the then director’s routine could justify the more than 50 suspicious expenses listed and, on the other hand, which expenses can actually be considered incompatible with the exercise of a football club presidency.

It is worth noting that Andrés Sanchez gave testimony to the MP-SP last Thursday. The meeting took place via videoconference and lasted about 15 minutes. Two main topics were addressed by the prosecutor: expenses of about R$ 5,000 at a jewelry store and nearly R$ 7,000 in Fernando de Noronha, in 2020.

Understanding the case

The Criminal Investigative Procedure (PIC) was initiated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in mid-June of this year. At the time, the agency also scheduled hearings with the current president, Osmar Stabile, vice president Armando Mendonça, and the president of the Deliberative Council, Romeu Tuma Júnior, in order to understand how Corinthians’ corporate cards function.

Initially, the MP’s investigation would only cover the terms of Andrés Sanchez (2018 to 2020) and Duilio Monteiro Alves (2021 to 2023). However, after hearing some testimonies, the agency decided to also investigate the term of Augusto Melo. In addition to alleged embezzlement, possible crimes of fraud, aggravated theft, ideological falsehood, and criminal association are also being investigated.

(Photo: Daniel Augusto Jr/Ag. Corinthians)

The case came to light at the beginning of July, when Andrés admitted to having improperly used the card for personal expenses in Tibau do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, at the end of his last term, in 2020.

Days after the expenses were revealed, he reimbursed Corinthians with interest and monetary correction. The former president, however, is facing disciplinary proceedings in the club’s Ethics and Discipline Committee. Fans are demanding punishments and even expulsion of Andrés.

There was also a charge of alleged personal expenses during the administration of Duilio Monteiro Alves. However, these expenses are not necessarily linked to the former president. He does not recognize the statements and filed a police report at the Sports Intolerance Crime Suppression Police Station (Drade/Dope), requesting the inclusion of this in the ongoing police inquiry, which denounces the circulation of false and manipulated documents.

At the beginning of September, the MP asked the courts for Andrés, Duilio, and Augusto Melo to be temporarily removed from the Deliberative and Advisory Councils of Corinthians during the investigation. So far, however, there has been no response from the Judiciary.

(Photo: Peter Leone/O Fotografico/Gazeta Press)

Corinthians reported, about two weeks ago, that it has completed the delivery of confidential documents requested by the MP. The club makes itself available to the authorities, but fears leaks and emphasizes the need not to further expose the institution’s image.

In addition to the alleged personal expenses, the MP also opened an investigation to look into a possible connection between the club and the criminal faction Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), motivated by the testimony of Romeu Tuma Júnior, president of Corinthians’ CD, collected by the agency.

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