Court drops case against Andrés Sanchez and Roberto Gavioli | OneFootball

The 2nd Court for Tax Crimes, Criminal Organization, and Money Laundering of Assets and Values of the São Paulo District Court fully rejected the complaint filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office against former Corinthians president Andrés Sanchez and the club's former administrative manager Roberto Gavioli. The information was initially reported by the Blog do Paulinho.

The decision was issued on March 11 by Judge Márcia Mayumi Okoda Oshiro, who found there was no probable cause for the continuation of the criminal action that alleged money laundering and offenses against the tax order.

Photo: Agência Corinthians

The case was being processed at the São Paulo Court of Justice and was based on a complaint from the Public Prosecutor's Office, which accused Andrés and Gavioli of self-money laundering, tax document forgery, and irregularities related to the use of the Corinthians corporate card during Andrés' second term as club president, between 2018 and 2020.

According to the accusation, Andrés allegedly used club funds for personal expenses, including purchases at furniture and appliance stores, as well as hiring air taxi services, later issuing invoices in the names of third parties or in his own name to conceal the origin of the funds. Gavioli, in turn, was accused of, in his capacity as financial manager, having validated irregular expenses in the accounts and failing to take action to prevent the alleged money laundering.

Judge dismisses money laundering charges

In her decision, the judge stated that the facts described by the Public Prosecutor's Office do not constitute the crime of money laundering, as there was no evidence of concealment or disguise with the purpose of reinserting illicit funds into the formal economy, an essential requirement for the crime as defined by Law No. 9.613/98.

According to the ruling, the conduct attributed to the former president would be limited to the use of club funds for personal expenses, which, in theory, could characterize another type of offense, but not money laundering.

“The conduct does not constitute concealment or disguise of funds with the purpose of reinsertion into the formal economy, but merely expenditures/consumption, characterizing the exhaustion of the appropriation,” the judge noted.

The decision also highlights that, even if invoices with different data were issued, the nature of the expenses, such as the purchase of furniture, appliances, and transportation, would not allow the reintegration of the funds into the economic system, an indispensable element for the classification of the crime of money laundering. Based on this understanding, the judge concluded that the objective element of the criminal type was absent and ordered the rejection of the complaint on this point.

Lack of definitive assessment prevents tax crime accusation

The complaint also accused Andrés of committing a crime against the tax order, arguing that there was falsification in invoices related to the expenses.

However, the judge applied Binding Precedent 24 of the Federal Supreme Court, according to which a material tax crime is not constituted before the definitive assessment of the tax by the tax authority.

In the decision, it was highlighted that there was no evidence that the tax credit had been definitively established after the conclusion of the administrative tax process, a necessary condition for criminal prosecution.

“Before the definitive assessment, there is not even certainty of the existence of the tax due and the amount of damage to the tax order, which prevents the configuration of the objective element of the criminal type,” she stated.

Given the absence of this requirement, the judge concluded that the complaint also lacked probable cause regarding the tax crimes.

Accusation against Gavioli also rejected

In the case of Roberto Gavioli, the Public Prosecutor's Office argued that he contributed to money laundering by accounting for allegedly irregular expenses and failing to prevent the outcome, despite having a duty of oversight.

However, since the judge dismissed the very existence of the predicate crime and money laundering, there was also no basis for holding the former manager responsible.

Without the configuration of the main offense, there would be no legal basis to impute relevant participation or omission to the co-defendant, which led to the full rejection of the complaint against him as well.

Rejection of the second complaint occurs amid other cases at the club

In the end, the judge denied the request for redistribution of the case and reiterated that the complaint could be rejected for lack of probable cause, pursuant to article 395, item III, of the Code of Criminal Procedure. “In light of the above, I reject the complaint for lack of probable cause,” she concluded.

With the decision, the accusation was not accepted by the Court, which means that the criminal action was not initiated and none of the accused became defendants in the case. The full rejection prevents the case from proceeding as presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office, except for the possible submission of a new complaint with different grounds.

This was the second complaint filed by the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office against the two investigated individuals. In the first, filed in October, Andrés and Gavioli were also accused of embezzlement, money laundering, and forgery of tax documents.

At that time, the same judge had rejected the charges related to money laundering and tax crime, but later rendered her own decision void and ordered the suspension of the analysis after the prosecution filed a motion for recusal, alleging possible partiality in the handling of the case.

The investigation was forwarded to the Special Chamber of the São Paulo Court of Justice, responsible for analyzing the motion for recusal filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office. The panel will decide whether the judge can remain in charge of the case. In a previous statement, the judge had declared herself fit and impartial to judge the accusations.

Andrés Sanchez is not the only former president involved in the case. The São Paulo Court accepted a complaint filed by the SP Public Prosecutor's Office and made former Corinthians president Duilio Monteiro Alves a defendant for the crime of embezzlement. In the same action, Roberto Gavioli also became a defendant in the case.

According to the accusation, the former executive allegedly used the club's corporate credit card for personal expenses during his presidency, between 2021 and 2023. The complaint was accepted by the Court, which means that the case has moved to the instruction phase, with the opening of a criminal action to investigate the facts.

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