Prosecutors allege R$3.4m misused at Corinthians, cite new diversion | OneFootball

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of São Paulo has filed criminal charges against four people for alleged involvement in a scheme to embezzle funds from Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (SCCP), which allegedly took place between January 2018 and December 2023. The nominal value of the reported losses is R$ 3,472,485.72, and could exceed R$ 7.3 million after monetary adjustment.

According to the indictment, contained in a document obtained by Central do Timão, the main defendant is João Odair de Souza, known as “Caveira,” who worked as a driver, advisor, and security consultant during the administrations of Andrés Sanchez and Duilio Monteiro Alves.

Photo: Disclosure/Corinthians

According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, he allegedly appropriated amounts received as advances for the payment of services, especially those related to security, without providing adequate proof of how the funds were used.

The investigation indicates that the amounts were transferred on a recurring basis, often monthly or biweekly, directly to accounts linked to the defendant, both under his individual taxpayer registration (CPF) and under a legal entity for which he was responsible. A significant portion of these deposits was made in the name of the company JOS Serviços Expedientes Ltda., allegedly used, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as a channel to concentrate the funds.

Despite the amounts being tied to specific expenses, such as hiring security for events and occasional situations at the club, the indictment highlights the absence of invoices, contracts, valid receipts, or any formal proof supporting the expenses. Reports submitted by the investigated party, based on expenses such as food, fuel, and parking, were deemed insufficient from a legal and accounting standpoint.

According to the prosecution, the club’s own internal documentation expressly indicated the absence of accounting for millions of reais, identified in spreadsheets with documentary gaps.

Participation by omission from the financial department

In addition to João Odair, the Public Prosecutor’s Office also charged then-financial manager Roberto Gavioli and former financial directors Matias Antonio Romano de Ávila and Wesley Lúcio Cavalcante Melo. They are accused of participating in the scheme by omission, since, according to the indictment, they held positions that required control, oversight, and validation of expenses.

The prosecution argues that the three had a legal and statutory duty to act to prevent irregularities, but failed to require supporting documentation, authorized transfers without proper basis, and did not adopt measures to stop the flow of payments considered suspicious.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office states that the club’s financial transactions depended on authorization from these managers, including bank records identifying them as the formal persons responsible for the accounts. In this context, the indictment argues that claiming ignorance of the irregularities is not plausible.

The filing also points to structural flaws in the club’s financial management during the period under investigation, with the absence of basic controls, a breakdown in the traceability of funds, and failure to comply with statutory rules.

In one section, the Public Prosecutor’s Office mentions the possibility of “willful blindness” on the part of the managers, characterized by the conscious choice not to verify obvious irregularities in order to avoid liability.

Testimony gathered during the investigation indicates that financial decisions were centralized, without questioning, and that there was a posture of non-interference so as “not to stop the machine,” which, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, contributed to the continuation of the irregularities over five years.

The defendants were charged with aggravated embezzlement, with continuing offense. In the case of the members of the financial department, the accusation also includes criminally relevant omission. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking the opening of criminal proceedings, with the summons of the accused, production of evidence, and possible conviction, in addition to reimbursement of R$ 3.47 million to the club, with due monetary adjustment.

The filing also requests the setting of compensation for moral damages, estimated at at least 75% of the material loss in the case of the financial managers, the freezing of the defendants’ assets to ensure possible reparation, the carrying out of a forensic accounting examination to precisely determine the amounts, and the lifting of bank and tax secrecy, as well as obtaining COAF reports on suspicious transactions.

Amendment includes new possible misappropriation under the current administration

In an amendment to the initial investigation order, the Public Prosecutor’s Office determined the inclusion of new facts related to a possible misappropriation of approximately R$ 294,000, identified in an audit referring to the period between January and July 2025.

According to the document, the new elements involve indications of the use of invalid invoices, irregular advances, and nonexistent reimbursements, in a dynamic considered similar to the one already investigated in previous years.

The amendment also expands the list of investigated parties, with the inclusion of names linked to the club’s most recent administration, among them one of Augusto Melo’s financial operators and others who will still be identified during the investigation.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office requested that Corinthians send the audit that pointed out the accounting inconsistency, in order to deepen the investigation and verify the connection between the facts.

The indictment is part of a set of investigations involving the club’s financial management and, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office itself, this is the fourth case in which Corinthians appears as the victim in recent criminal actions. The investigations continue, including to ascertain the possible involvement of other officials and to further examine the new facts included in the amendment. The courts still have to decide whether to accept the indictment and how the case will proceed.

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