Prosecutor details probes into Corinthians boards, comments on recusal bid | OneFootball

Prosecutor Cássio Conserino, responsible for leading different criminal investigations involving Corinthians’ most recent administrations, presented this Sunday a summary of the measures adopted over the last few months. The first inquiry began more than a year ago and involved personal expenses attributed to former president Andrés Sanchez through the club’s corporate card.

In an interview with the program Domingo Esportivo on TV Band, Conserino said the investigations have already resulted in a series of proceedings at the state and federal levels. According to him, five complaints have been filed and led to criminal cases, in addition to petitions related to public and social assets.

Photo: Reproduction/Central do Timão

“Today, we have one year and 23 days of investigations at Corinthians, which have resulted in five criminal cases, five complaints, two petitions to the Public and Social Assets division of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP-SP), which culminated in the opening of a civil inquiry aimed at studying the feasibility of a court-ordered intervention in the club, a judicial petition to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) regarding the same facts, a petition to the Federal Revenue Service (RFB), which has already scheduled a tax enforcement action, and numerous police investigations, both at the federal and state levels,” he said in an interview with the program Domingo Esportivo on TV Band.

The prosecutor also spoke about the motion for recusal filed in court by Corinthians’ second vice president, Armando Mendonça. Conserino described the measure as an attempt to remove him from the investigations because he is a supporter of the club. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office representative, there is no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure that justifies recusal based solely on being a fan. The case is now awaiting a judicial decision.

“About two weeks ago, one of those under investigation, who is now a defendant, filed a motion for recusal, alleging that I would not have sufficient impartiality to conduct the investigation simply because I am a Corinthians supporter. That argument is rather unusual, because there is nothing in the Code of Criminal Procedure that provides grounds for recusal resembling this situation. So now, in this specific case, we are waiting for a decision from the Judiciary on whether or not my participation in this specific criminal case will be maintained,” he explained.

Conserino was also asked about the civil inquiry opened to analyze the possibility of a court-ordered intervention at Corinthians. The prosecutor explained that, because he works in the criminal area, he is not responsible for conducting that investigation and therefore avoided anticipating any assessment of its possible developments.

Even so, he noted that he has already submitted petitions related to the case and expressed confidence in the members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office who are currently conducting the civil inquiry.

“This civil inquiry is in excellent hands, in the hands of Dr. André Pascoal and Dr. Luiz Ambra Neto. They have already been questioned by society about what they are going to do, what they intend to do, and what they are not going to do, and they have already spoken on that. It is also important to say that the civil inquiry is now being built, but it is not up to me to make any comments, also out of respect for my colleagues’ work,” he pointed out.

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