Andrés’ defence questions prosecutor in Corinthians spending probe | OneFootball

The defense of the former president of Corinthians, Andrés Sanchez, filed a request with the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office (MP-SP) to clarify how the internal distribution of the Criminal Investigative Procedure (PIC) was conducted, which investigates the alleged irregular use of a corporate card by former club executives.

Gazeta Esportiva accessed the petition. The document, signed by Andrés' lawyers, points out that there is no certificate or administrative record in the files proving the "free distribution" of the case, that is, the internal procedure that defines which public prosecutor would be responsible for conducting the inquiry.

The procedure is conducted by prosecutor Cássio Roberto Conserino, from the 106th Criminal Prosecutor's Office in the capital, who also leads the investigation involving improper expenses during the management of Duilio Monteiro Alves and Augusto Melo.

According to the request, the defense "did not find a certificate demonstrating or clarifying how the distribution of the said PIC was conducted within the Public Prosecutor's Office," and therefore requests that the files be sent to the Attorney General of Justice of the State of São Paulo to provide clarifications on the manner of appointing the responsible prosecutor.

(Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians)

MP's Complaint

The defense of Andrés Sanchez has also requested the dismissal of the complaint filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office, which has not yet been accepted by the court. If this happens, the former president of Corinthians will become a defendant.

The decision to move the case forward or not will be made by Judge Márcia Mayumi Okada Oshiro, the same judge who accepted the complaint against Augusto Melo and three other former Timão executives in the VaideBet case. Andrés' defense believes that if the Attorney General's Office cannot prove that the appointment of the responsible prosecutor was done correctly, following the necessary procedure, the judge will have grounds not to accept the complaint. A decision from the court is expected by Monday.

It is important to note that even if the Attorney General does not convince the court that the case followed the appropriate procedures, the complaint will not be dismissed. However, the case will be restarted, having to go through all the required processes. Prosecutor Cássio Roberto Conserino would also be removed.

And the Internal Bodies of Corinthians?

The possible delay of the Andrés Sanchez case in court does not affect the investigation work carried out by the internal bodies of Corinthians. In contact with the report, the vice president of the Deliberative Council and president of the club's Ethics Committee, Leonardo Pantaleão, assured that the Committee will continue investigating and hearing the individuals involved regardless of the judicial outcome.

Judge Márcia Mayumi Okada Oshiro's decision, therefore, does not prevent Andrés from being punished within Corinthians.

Understand the Case

The São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office charged Andrés Sanchez with three crimes: continued aggravated embezzlement, money laundering, and falsification of tax documents.

The agency also demands that the former Corinthians president reimburse, with monetary correction, the expenses with the club's corporate cards from August 2018 to December 2020. He would have to return R$ 480,000 to the club, with most of this amount paid by the former Corinthians president and a smaller portion paid by Roberto Gavioli, the financial manager at the time, 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 about 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.

However, 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 with the purchase of two watches at the luxury jewelry store HStern, but although the card used was Corinthians', the invoice for the products was issued in the name of former president André Sanches. Expenses in clothing stores, such as Brooksfield, also caught the attention of the prosecution.

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