Andrés’ defence: case sensationalised, urges court to drop charges | OneFootball

The defense attorneys of Andrés Sanchez, former president of Corinthians, filed in court a request for full dismissal of the complaint brought by the São Paulo State Prosecutor’s Office (MP-SP), which accuses him of embezzlement, money laundering, and a tax crime.

According to the document, to which Gazeta Esportiva had access, Andrés’ defense believes the prosecutor in charge of the case, Cassio Roberto Conserino, acted in a “biased” manner because he is a Timão supporter. The former president cited the phrase “party with members’ money,” used by the prosecutor to refer to the club’s corporate card expenses, as an example of this.

The lawyers also allege “media sensationalization of the investigations”, arguing that the progress of the proceedings was leaked to the press before the defense had access, which, in their view, exposed the accused.

(Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians)

Possible permanent removal

Corinthians’ internal bodies are closely monitoring the case of Andrés Sanchez. With the complaint already filed by the MP, it remains to be seen whether the court will accept it, making the former president a defendant. The judge responsible for deciding whether to move the case forward will be Márcia Mayumi Okada Oshiro, the same judge who accepted the complaint against Augusto Melo and three other former Timão executives for aggravated theft, criminal association, and money laundering in the VaideBet case.

If Andrés becomes a defendant, Corinthians is already considering removing him from his duties on the Deliberative Council and the Cori on a permanent basis, at least until the trial ends. The former president has already stepped away from the club’s political life, but since the request was formalized by himself, voluntarily, Sanchez could return at any time.

Therefore, as the report has learned, the president of the Ethics Committee, Leonardo Pantaleão, is preparing an official letter in case the court accepts the MP’s complaint. The document would be sent to the Deliberative Council, which could determine Andrés’ removal until the case is concluded.

Understand the case

The São Paulo State Prosecutor’s Office charged Andrés Sanchez with three crimes: aggravated continued embezzlement, money laundering, and falsification of a tax document.

The body is also demanding that the former Corinthians president reimburse, with monetary correction, the corporate card expenses of the club from August 2018 to December 2020. He would have to return R$ 480,000 to the club, with most of that amount paid by the former Corinthians president and a smaller portion paid by Roberto Gavioli, the financial manager at the time, who was also charged by the MP.

Sanchez and Gavioli would also have to pay an additional 75% of the R$ 480,000, that is, R$ 360,000 each, for moral and material damages to Corinthians.

In December 2020, according to the MP-SP after analyzing credit card statements, Andrés spent around R$ 9,000 in Tibau do Sul, a municipality in Rio Grande do Norte where the famous Pipa beach is located. There were also more than R$ 6,000 in expenses in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago in January of the same year.

But, according to Cássio Roberto Conserino, the expenses paid with Corinthians’ corporate cards on these trips to the Northeast amounted to R$ 33,793.92.

There were also expenses of more than R$ 5,000 for the purchase of two watches at the luxury jeweler HStern, but although the card used was Corinthians’, the invoice for the products was issued in the name of former president André Sanches. Spending at clothing stores, such as Brooksfield, also caught the attention of the prosecutor’s office.

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