CORI members and other Corinthians officials could face MP investigation | OneFootball

The São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office filed charges this Wednesday against former Corinthians president Andrés Sanchez and the financial superintendent Roberto Gavioli for three crimes related to irregular spending with the club’s corporate cards. The prosecution, however, has not ruled out the possibility of investigating other members of Corinthians’ internal bodies, such as the Advisory Council (CORI) and the Fiscal Council, in addition to the financial board itself.

Andrés Sanchez and Roberto Gavioli were charged with the crimes of aggravated continued embezzlement, money laundering, and falsification of tax documents, committed during the former president’s last term, between 2018 and 2020.

With interest and monetary correction, the irregular expenses on Corinthians’ corporate cards during Andrés Sanchez’s administration amount to R$ 480,000, an amount that the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office demands be reimbursed by the former president and by Roberto Gavioli, in addition to payment of 75% of that amount, i.e., R$ 360,000, by each of the defendants for moral and material damages to the club.

The key issue is that during the period when the improper expenses occurred, the Fiscal Council, the financial board, and the Advisory Council of Corinthians approved the club’s financial statements, detecting no irregularities in Andrés Sanchez’s management.

Precisely for this reason, doubts were raised about the integrity of the members of these internal bodies at Corinthians. The Deliberative Council opened an administrative proceeding to determine the responsibility of club members who had the role of overseeing the accounts and did not do so, even conducting hearings with some council members.

For now, the members of the Fiscal Council, the financial board from the former president Andrés Sanchez’s last term, and the Advisory Council can be judged only within Corinthians’ internal statutory instances, but if the Public Prosecutor’s Office decides to charge them, they may also have to answer to the Judiciary.

How should spending oversight work at Corinthians?

The Fiscal Council and the financial board of Corinthians are obligated to render accounts and, moreover, to prepare reports on the club’s finances to the Advisory Council (CORI).

The CORI, in turn, is responsible for evaluating Corinthians’ accounts and, if it detects any irregularity, bringing the complaint to the club’s Ethics Committee and Deliberative Council.

During Andrés Sanchez’s administration, even with the improper corporate card expenses assessed by the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Fiscal Council and the Advisory Council found no irregularities in Corinthians’ financial statements, which raises suspicions about the collusion of members of these bodies with the improper practices.

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