Civil Police probe possible theft of sports gear at Corinthians | OneFootball

The Civil Police of São Paulo opened an investigation last Thursday to look into the possible misappropriation of sports materials at Corinthians. The investigation began following a request from the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office (MP-SP), made by prosecutor Cassio Roberto Conserino, who is leading another investigation into improper spending during the administrations of Andrés Sanchez, Duilio Monteiro Alves, and Augusto Melo.

The case will be handled by the Sports Intolerance Crime Repression Division (Drade), an agency linked to the Civil Police's Homicide and Personal Protection Department (DHPP). Authorities are investigating the suspected qualified theft.

The information was initially published by Trivela and confirmed by Gazeta Esportiva. When contacted, Corinthians stated that they have not yet been notified by the authorities.

In addition to the police investigation, there is an internal inquiry by the club itself investigating the alleged irregularities.

(Photo: Disclosure/Corinthians)

Understand the case

In 2024, Corinthians received R$ 13.2 million in Nike items at both Parque São Jorge and CT Dr. Joaquim Grava, more than triple the R$ 4 million related to the “non-chargeable annual quota” agreed with the sports equipment supplier. Some of these items were not properly recorded for tax purposes upon receipt, exposing the institution to risks warned by Ernst & Young and the club's Information Technology (IT) Department, which were ignored by the board then led by the ousted president Augusto Melo.

Gazeta Esportiva accessed email exchanges between Corinthians departments and E&Y, a company that provided consulting services to the club between January and September of the previous year. The former partner reported to Timão in August about serious irregularities in the registration of invoices (NFs) for sports materials supplied by Nike and the possible consequences these actions could cause.

That month, E&Y met with Corinthians to discuss issues related to the logistics and storage of sports materials. The company expressed, through an email sent to various club officials, concern about the decentralization of stock and issuance of NFs, which until then were done under only one CNPJ (Parque São Jorge), but began to be carried out at CT Dr. Joaquim Grava as well.

According to the email, the change was requested by Caio do Valle, identified by E&Y as “responsible for the stock at the CT”. The change was motivated by the high demand of men's football, delays in deliveries by Nike, and the intention not to mix materials with other sports. Gazeta Esportiva also found that Timão received not only uniforms at the CT but also other products.

The approval of the decentralization and communication to Nike were made at the beginning of the year, but according to E&Y, other teams necessary for the execution of systemic and accounting actions were not involved and notified in time. The CT's warehouse team was sending all invoices by email to former administrative director Marcelo Mariano. As a result, approximately R$ 3.5 million in Nike invoices were not entered into the system by that time.

E&Y's Warning

The failure to register the NFs exposed Corinthians to risks warned by the consultant, such as “tax fines, lawsuits against the club, the possibility of contract termination, reimbursement of amounts exceeding the R$ 4 million provided in the contract, as well as damage to reputation”. This is without considering the chances of misappropriation of sports materials, now being investigated by the Civil Police.

The situation, as stated in the alert sent by E&Y, had been worsening since July 2024. From January to that period, Timão had already consumed 28,027 Nike items, equivalent to R$ 9.8 million, surpassing the R$ 4 million quota. For comparison, throughout 2023, the club used 33,824 products.

Aiming for “operational improvements”, the company recommended centralizing the stock at Parque São Jorge. However, the guidance was denied by the team responsible for the CT, who cited “failures in the delivery of materials” from the club's headquarters to the training center. It was also stated that the decision to separate the distribution of products and the issuance of NFs into two CNPJs was made by the club's board at the beginning of the year.

E&Y then suggested installing the Protheus system at the CT to meet tax obligations. The enterprise management software, developed by TOTVS, is responsible for controlling stock, managing the club's accounting, and has been used at Parque São Jorge for years. As an emergency measure, until the system was configured, invoices should be billed with the CNPJ of Parque São Jorge but delivered to the CT.

The Corinthians IT Department, then headed by Marcelo Munhoes, reinforced the alert from the former consultant and raised the need to involve the club's fiscal and accounting departments. This is because Brazilian tax legislation requires prior authorization for changes in billing, under the risk of penalties, not to mention that Nike would also need to validate the process.

The Protheus system was finally implemented at the CT, as reported in an email sent in December 2024, which the report also accessed. However, the guidelines following the installation, such as issuing pending invoices, were not fulfilled. From the meeting on August 2 until December 2024, the numbers jumped from R$ 3.5 million to R$ 4.9 million in products without proper NF registration.

Just over a month after the alert, the partnership between Corinthians and Ernst & Young was terminated.

Account Disapproval

The documentary discrepancies were one of the reasons that led the Cori (Guidance Council) to recommend the disapproval of Corinthians' accounts for 2024, referring to the first year of Augusto Melo's administration.

The report from the body, sent on April 24, states that “supporting documents for the accounting of invoices” from FISIA Comércio de Produtos Esportivos S/A, which represents Nike in Brazil, were requested. However, such documents were not presented by the executive board until the vote in the Deliberative Council.

At the time, the former Corinthians board issued an official statement on the matter and, despite admitting the delay, claimed that the situation was regularized, with all invoices being manually registered, a consequence of a “system readjustment”.

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