São Paulo judge rejects bid to remove prosecutor from Corinthians Nike case | OneFootball

The São Paulo judiciary has rejected a bid by Corinthians second vice-president Armando Mendonça to recuse prosecutor Cássio Roberto Conserino from the criminal case over missing Nike sports equipment.

According to Meu Timao, judge Amanda Eiko Sato of the 25th Criminal Court, Barra Funda, ruled on 26 August that articles 254, VI, of the Criminal Procedure Code and 145, IV, of the Civil Procedure Code were not met.

Those provisions address grounds for suspicion, including close friendship or enmity with a party. None were found, so Conserino stays on the case.

Mendonça was charged on 23 June with qualified and continued embezzlement, attempted qualified embezzlement, qualified theft by abuse of trust, and coercion during proceedings, tied to items missing from the storerooms at CT Dr. Joaquim Grava and Parque São Jorge.

The defence alleged partiality and sought annulment of the indictment. The judge cited no evidence of club political ties, commitments to rivals, office seeking, or any gain from a conviction.

Claims he acted on a mooted judicial intervention at Corinthians, and shared images of a recent supporters’ act, were classed as routine work, with any merits to be tested in court.

Allegations of a parallel probe, undisclosed steps, disagreement with Civil Police findings and leaks belong in proper procedural channels, the ruling added, and do not show personal interest.

The court noted his joint designation with the case’s natural prosecutor and said any compliance issue concerns functional attribution, not suspicion, and it ordered a family photo wrongly scanned into the file to be removed.

Source: Meu Timao

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