Court charges ex-Corinthians staff and directors over R$3.4m fraud | OneFootball

The São Paulo courts accepted the complaint filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and decided to formally charge former Corinthians driver João Odair de Souza, known as Caveira, for alleged embezzlement. The accusations involve events that took place between 2018 and 2023, a period covering the administrations of Andrés Sanchez and Duilio Monteiro Alves.

In addition to Caveira, former financial directors Matías Ávila and Wesley Melo, as well as former financial manager Roberto Gavioli, will also stand trial. They were charged with the crime of relevant omission, under the allegation that they failed to supervise or prevent the diversion of approximately R$ 3.4 million belonging to the club. With monetary correction, the amount is estimated at around R$ 7.3 million.

Photo: Disclosure/Corinthians

As a precautionary measure while the case is ongoing, the court ordered the seizure of the four defendants’ passports, in addition to freezing their assets. They are also barred from accessing the premises of Parque São Jorge while the proceedings are underway.

In the complaint submitted to the Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requests that Matías Ávila be ordered to repay R$ 6 million to Corinthians’ coffers, while Wesley Melo is the target of a request for the return of R$ 250,000.

The investigation into the movement of cash handed to club employees began after ge revealed personal expenses incurred during the administration of then-president Duilio Monteiro Alves.

Contacted by the report, the accused were invited to comment on the case. Among them, only Wesley Melo declined to give an interview. The statements presented by the others were later released.

Understand the case

According to the complaint, João Odair de Souza, Caveira, who served as Corinthians’ head of security, received more than R$ 3.4 million in cash between 2018 and 2023. Prosecutors argue that there was no documentary proof for the use of most of those funds.

According to the accusation, the amounts were released as advances intended for expenses directly related to the club’s presidency, mainly to cover security services at events and other extraordinary demands.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office also states that a significant part of those amounts was deposited both into Caveira’s personal bank account and into the account of a company linked to him. For investigators, this form of movement strengthens the suspicion that the funds were used for a purpose different from the one originally intended.

In a phone interview given to ge in March of this year, Caveira acknowledged that he handled cash payments during the period in which he worked at Corinthians and explained why there were no invoices for part of the expenses.

“On Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, many freelance security guards need to be hired for the club. This also happened when there were protests at the training center or at Parque São Jorge. Before I took over (the head of security role), Atual (the security company) did this, charging around R$ 450 but paying the guard R$ 120 or R$ 150. I spoke to Andrés about it, and he told me to talk to legal and Roberto Gavioli (former financial manager),” said Caveira.

“Inside the club there are a series of sports. There’s volleyball, basketball, futsal.... There are eight security guards at each of these events. Event at the pool? 20 guards. There was a day of protests when I put more than 60 guards at the training center. Many of them were police officers on their off hours. Military Police officers don’t issue invoices. I couldn’t even make a work order,” he argued.

The former employee also stated that part of the cash was used to pay small expenses and give tips when carrying out activities linked to then-presidents Andrés Sanchez and Duilio Monteiro Alves.

Finally, Caveira said that he always accounted for the amounts received to Corinthians’ finance department. According to him, at no point were there any questions from the club’s Fiscal Council, the body responsible for reviewing and overseeing the accounts.

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