Audit committee to investigate Casares’ corporate card use | OneFootball

The dismissals of some allies of Julio Casares after the former president announced his resignation from the presidency last Wednesday (21) were not the only moves by the new leader of Tricolor, Harry Massis Júnior, and the new command chain of the club.

On the afternoon of this Thursday (22), the São Paulo Fiscal Council requested access to the corporate card invoices used by Casares during the five years he was president of the club.

The information was initially released by the portal ‘Globo Esporte‘ and confirmed to AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR.

According to the report, the club's internal body voted by majority to investigate whether Casares used the card within the rules provided by the regulations.

The group, composed of five members, oversees “the acts of the Board and verifies the fulfillment of its legal and statutory duties,” as stated on the club's official website.

A DARK FUTURE FOR THE FORMER PRESIDENT

Júlio Casares' resignation from the presidency of São Paulo occurs in the context of a series of investigations conducted by the Civil Police since the end of last year. The now former president is the target of inquiries related to cash withdrawals made from the club's accounts and financial transactions considered atypical by control bodies. The investigation is under the responsibility of delegate Tiago Fernando Correia, from the 3rd Division of Investigations on Crimes against Administration and Money Laundering (Dicca).

The delegate states there are “consistent indications that a supposed criminal association would be operating a sophisticated scheme of resource diversion and appropriation of funds.” The Civil Police conducts the main investigation, while the Public Prosecutor's Office acts on two fronts: one focused on the alleged scheme of fund diversion and another dedicated to investigating reckless management, focusing on the origin of São Paulo's billion-dollar debt.

Investigators are analyzing 35 cash withdrawals made between January 2021 and November 2025, totaling eleven million reais. The banks responsible for the accounts classified the operations as “atypical and incompatible with market practices for an entity of this size,” highlighting the difficulty in ensuring the destination of the funds. The last 33 withdrawals occurred with the support of an armored car company, a method that, according to the police, complicates the tracking of the money.

Meanwhile, investigators identified deposits in accounts linked to the manager's family. Between January 2023 and May 2025, there were deposits of R$ 1.5 million in cash in a joint account of Júlio and Mara Casares, the former wife of the executive. She held the position of director of women, culture, and events at the club and took a leave after accusations related to an illegal ticket sales scheme for VIP boxes. The Coaf also cites cash deposits in the account of Deborah de Melo Casares, their daughter. In one case, on November 22, 2024, Mara deposited R$ 49.5 thousand in cash, an amount below the automatic notification limit.

The reports also point to cash contributions made by Mara in the account of a company in which Deborah is a partner. The central point of the investigation is to verify if there is a connection between the withdrawals from São Paulo's accounts and the deposits in the managers' accounts. Casares claims that the amounts are backed and that the accusations are based on “fragile versions.”

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