Corinthians board reveals progress in probe into corporate card use | OneFootball

After the complaint filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office against former Corinthians president Andrés Sanchez and former financial manager Roberto Gavioli, the president of the club’s Deliberative Council, Romeu Tuma Júnior, released an official statement last Wednesday (15), clarifying points regarding the internal administrative process investigating the use of corporate cards by former executives.

According to Tuma, the investigations regarding Andrés’ case are advanced, with only the final stages of the internal committees’ work remaining. “The work is advanced, with only the submission of additional documents already requested from the Board and the hearing of the last guests and the former president himself remaining, whose date has already been scheduled,” stated the official.

Photo: Reproduction/Corinthians

The hearing of Andrés is expected to take place in the coming days, concluding the evidentiary phase of the investigation conducted by the Justice Committee and the presidency of the Ethics Committee of the Deliberative Council.

Afterward, the administrative process will move to the disciplinary committee, which will open a period for the accused to present their defense and, subsequently, will prepare an opinion to be submitted to the Council’s plenary—the body responsible for the final decision, which may include the removal of the former president from the club’s membership.

Tuma also clarified why the Council did not deliberate on Andrés’ removal from his roles as a lifetime councilor and ex officio member of the Guidance Council (Cori), emphasizing that the measure was taken by the former president himself and that any such decision must strictly comply with the club’s Statute.

“It is not for this signatory to decide on any removal of a councilor without strictly following the rules of the Statute, under penalty of annulment of the procedure and accusation of partiality,” he emphasized.

The president of the Deliberative Council also cited the precedent of former president Augusto Melo, whose internal process followed the same procedure and withstood several attempts at annulment in court. According to Tuma, Andrés’ removal “was due to his own request, made on the afternoon of this Wednesday (15) and accepted by me without the need for deliberation by the Council’s plenary.”

The statement reinforces that the Deliberative Council does not have the authority to investigate crimes, being limited to analyzing possible statutory violations, while criminal investigations are conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The internal administrative process, initiated on August 1, also seeks to determine the possible responsibility of executives who should have overseen the use of the cards and did not do so.

The São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged former president Andrés Sanchez and former manager Roberto Gavioli for the improper use of the club’s corporate card, with updated amounts totaling R$ 480,000. The Prosecutor’s Office charged Andrés with embezzlement, money laundering, and falsification of tax documents. Gavioli was charged with embezzlement and money laundering.

Read in full the official statement released by the president of the Corinthians Deliberative Council:

The Deliberative Council of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, through its President, clarifies, regarding the case of the use of corporate credit cards by former Presidents of the Board from 2018 onwards:

1 – Administrative Process No. PA 026/2025 was initiated on August 1, 2025, to investigate the various complaints regarding the use of corporate cards by former Presidents of the Board, sent to this signatory by members, councilors, and internal bodies such as CORI.

2 – Said Administrative Process was assigned to the Justice Committee and the presidency of the Ethics Committee of the Deliberative Council, in accordance with the Internal Regulations of the Deliberative Council and the Social Statute of SCCP.

3 – The Justice Committee, together with the presidency of the Ethics Committee, has been working diligently, following a previously planned work plan, collecting documents, conducting hearings with witnesses and those responsible for oversight, among others.

4 – Specifically regarding the case of former President Andrés Sanchez, I clarify that the work is advanced, with only the submission of additional documents already requested from the Board and the hearing of the last guests and the former President himself remaining, whose date has already been scheduled.

5 – At the end of this phase, the Justice Committee will prepare its partial report and send it to the Ethics Committee, so that it can formalize its work with the conduct determined by the Statute and present its report to be deliberated by the plenary of the Deliberative Council.

6 – It is important to state, for everyone’s understanding and clarification, that it is not for this signatory to decide on any removal of a Councilor without strictly following the rules of the Statute, under penalty of annulment of the procedure and accusation of partiality by this President. In this sense, it is important to remember that in the case of former President Augusto Melo, the same procedure was followed—and, several times, the former president tried to annul the procedures in court, without success, precisely because we strictly followed the Statutory rules. The indefinite removal of lifetime Councilor and ex officio member of CORI Andrés Sanchez was due to his own request, made on the afternoon of this Wednesday (15) and accepted by me without the need for deliberation by the Council’s plenary.

7 – It is also important to note that the work of the Committees aims not only to investigate the possible improper use of corporate cards, but also the possible responsibility of those who should have supervised and did not.

8 – Finally, I note, as I did in a recent case, that it is not the role of the Deliberative Council to investigate crimes, but only statutory violations; and that the timelines of the courts and State authorities are different from the administrative timeline. But I emphasize that nothing will go uninvestigated and those responsible will be judged within the internal statutory bodies of the SCCP association.

Sincerely,

Romeu Tuma Junior

President of the Deliberative Council 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.