São Paulo ethics committee settles future of duo in VIP box scandal | OneFootball

After two postponements allegedly justified by the need for a better understanding of the facts and clarification from the defense, São Paulo’s Ethics Committee will decide this Monday (30) the future at the club of two of those accused of involvement in the infamous Luxury Box Scandal.

Mara Casares and Douglas Schwartzmann were removed from their director positions after being caught in leaked audio negotiating the sale of an institutional luxury box at Morumbi for a concert by Colombian singer Shakira in March of last year.

The panel will decide whether the two accused, who are now also being investigated by the Civil Police and the State Public Prosecutor’s Office, violated the club’s internal rules set out in its bylaws. If convicted, they could even be expelled from the membership rolls.

The initial expectation was that the Ethics Committee would issue its opinion last Thursday (26), but more time was requested, under the pretext of needing a deeper review of the case “because of its complexity.”

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR learned over the course of this Sunday (29), the trend is for the pair to be punished. Pressured by fans and members, who even held a “pizza protest” inside the club as a form of demonstration (click here to revisit it), even members of the body close to Douglas and Mara have been signaling a vote in favor of expulsion.

Of the five members of the panel, three have already publicly spoken in favor of punishment for Douglas and Mara.

The pressure from opposition councilors against former president Julio Casares is for the maximum punishment, namely expulsion from the club. There is fear that a “pizza” in this case will be served in the form of light penalties.

“We’re watching very closely. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is something just for show. It’s D-Day for São Paulo morality,” said one councilor interviewed by the report.

THE ACCUSED

Mara is no longer part of São Paulo’s political life. In addition to her position as events director, she also gave up her seat on the Deliberative Council. Schwartzmann, former youth academy director, left his administrative post but remained a councilor.

The ex-wife of former president Julio Casares is the one facing the most problems with the police investigations. At the end of last month, a notebook seized at the home of Rita de Cássia Adriana Prado, one of the scandal’s main figures, gave authorities new leads.

Although the contents are under seal, investigators say the notes help detail how the scheme operated and indicate that at least one São Paulo luxury box was systematically diverted.

The operation was led by the 3rd Police Precinct for Investigations into Criminal Chop Shops (Dicca) and also targeted Schwartzmann, former deputy director of the youth categories, and Mara Casares, ex-wife of former president Júlio Casares and then women’s, cultural, and events director.

The seized notebook reportedly contains more elements about the machinery that sustained the scheme, which may have lasted longer than initially thought. “The documents collected allow us to see the seriousness of the facts and the extent of the events, including their time span, much longer than imagined,” said prosecutor José Reinaldo Carneiro Guimarães, stressing that the investigation is not yet complete.

At Mara’s residence, police also seized R$ 28,000 in cash and a computer, in addition to documents considered important to advancing the investigation. In a statement, São Paulo said that it “is a victim in this case and will cooperate with the authorities in the investigation.”

At the same time, the newspaper ‘O Estado de S. Paulo’ found that the dealings involving Adriana and Mara at the club had been taking place since at least 2023.

Currently on leave from the board, Mara allegedly acted in partnership with Adriana in brokering the sale of spaces and tickets for games and concerts at Morumbi, as well as other São Paulo events.

Mara’s defense says she is fully cooperating with the authorities and that the propriety of her actions will be proven.

The timeline drawn up by police and prosecutors indicates that the two women’s joint activity was not limited to luxury box 3A at singer Shakira’s concert, mentioned in the audio released in December.

Sources heard by the newspaper report Adriana’s presence as an intermediary as early as 2022. Adriana herself has message exchanges and emails with club directors and is said to have approached Casares’s opponents to negotiate the material.

THE CASE

Mara was caught alongside Schwartzmann in a controversy over the transfer of a space at the tricolor stadium for a concert by Colombian singer Shakira in March. Both were caught in phone recordings made by the complainant, who felt wronged after claiming she “had been robbed” by a fourth person involved.

Mara’s leave, however, came at an opportune moment for the Casares administration. It happened one day after the approval of São Paulo’s 2026 budget, in which she voted in favor of the accounts proposed by her ex-husband.

Although now on leave, Mara will continue to be investigated in the case on two fronts.

In the first, she will be the target of a police inquiry opened at the request of the São Paulo State Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutor José Reinaldo Guimarães Carneiro, from the MP-SP Tourism and Sports Commission, saw clear signs of crimes that do involve São Paulo, and not merely a consumer dispute among the other parties involved.

“The first crime is private corruption in sports, which is a crime established in the new General Sports Law, in force since 2023. This crime, in fact, involves the manipulation of private interests to the detriment of the club’s assets, of the associations,” said Carneiro.

“And a second crime, which is also very serious, is coercion in the course of proceedings. Because calling someone and intimidating them so that they withdraw a lawsuit under threat that things may have repercussions, as the recordings suggest, is an indication of a crime,” the prosecutor added.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office suggests that the three people involved in the audio (Douglas Schwartzmann, Mara Casares, and the complainant) and everyone mentioned in it be heard, including Márcio Carlomagno, São Paulo’s general superintendent.

“All money raised by an association, whether at a sports venue because of soccer or another sporting activity, has to go back to the club. Not toward favoring the private interests of those who should be managing the club. The police will take the next steps,” he said.

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