Prosecutors quiz Corinthians on 50+ corporate card spends by Andrés | OneFootball

The Public Prosecutor's Office of São Paulo (MP-SP) requested from the Corinthians, between September 26 and 29, data and explanations about more than 50 suspicious acquisitions made by Andrés Sanchez with the club's corporate card between 2018 and 2020, during his second term as Corinthians president.

Cassio Roberto Conserino, the prosecutor in charge of the case, set a deadline of 10 calendar days for the club's management to send the responses.

Objective of the MP

The MP's intention, amid an investigation into alleged improper personal expenses, is to understand which events related to the routine of the then-director could justify the over 50 suspicious expenses listed and, on the other hand, which expenses could indeed be considered incompatible with the role of a football club president.

The Corinthians received the request with surprise. According to an investigation by the Gazeta Esportiva, the club is in no position to provide the prosecutor with the answers he seeks due to the lack of internal control over every detail of the day-to-day activities of any director in recent years, except through the invoices already submitted. The club is likely to explain to the MP the impossibility of cooperating in this situation, or at least not in its entirety.

Cassio Roberto Conserino split the investigations of Andrés Sanchez, Duilio Monteiro Alves, and Augusto Melo, and it is expected that Andrés' case will be the first to be brought to court through a complaint filed by the MP.

Testimony

This Thursday, Cassio Roberto Conserino took testimony from Andrés Sanchez. The meeting took place via video conference and lasted approximately 15 minutes. The prosecutor addressed two main topics: expenses of about R$ 5,000 at a jewelry store and nearly R$ 7,000 in Fernando de Noronha, in 2020.

Regarding the expense on the archipelago, Andrés admitted that he was drunk and claimed to have confused the cards, since, in his words, he had a card from the same bank, Santander.

As for the purchase at the jewelry store, the former president stated that it was a watch that he gave as a gift to a member of the CBF with whom he had a meeting at that time. Andrés sees the practice as common in the football environment and considered it appropriate to gift the Confederation member on that occasion.

Andrés Sanchez's lawyer asked to be excused from the hearing, believing that the facts had already been explained. However, the former Timão president decided to participate.

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