Police target Americanas shareholders, former executives in fraud probe - Valor International

Brazil’s Federal Police launched on Thursday the second phase of Operation Disclosure, an investigation into alleged accounting fraud and market manipulation involving retailer Americanas. Among the targets is businessman Carlos Alberto Sicupira, one of the company’s controlling shareholders, as well as former board members and banking executives.

Authorities are executing nine search warrants, including personal searches, in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The operation was authorized by a federal court in Rio de Janeiro, which also ordered the freezing of up to R$54 billion in assets belonging to those under investigation.

Valor learned that the targets include Carlos Alberto Sicupira, one of Americanas’s controlling shareholders; Eduardo Saggioro, former chairman of the retailer’s board; Paulo Alberto Lemann, a former board member and son of controlling shareholder Jorge Paulo Lemann; José Rudge of Itaú; Gustavo Balassiano, formerly of Itaú; Carlos Henrique Villela Pedras of Bradesco; Sérgio Rial, former chairman of Santander and former CEO of Americanas; André Almeida of Santander; and Alexandre Abdo of Santander.

According to investigators, the suspects allegedly knew about accounting irregularities that were carried out over several years and involved supplier-financing transactions known as “risco sacado” and cooperative advertising allowance agreements that were allegedly recorded without underlying economic substance.

Investigators say the evidence indicates possible market manipulation and criminal association.

The Americanas scandal became public on January 11, 2023, when Sérgio Rial, who had taken over as CEO earlier that year, informed the market of accounting inconsistencies totaling nearly R$20 billion. Rial resigned immediately, as did André Covre, who had just assumed the role of chief financial officer.

The two executives were leading a new management team that succeeded a leadership group headed for two decades by Miguel Gutierrez, a notably low-profile executive. As internal and police investigations progressed, Federal Police came to suspect the existence of a criminal organization led by Gutierrez that allegedly involved around 60 individuals and manipulated the retailer’s financial results by roughly R$25 billion.

According to investigators, the scheme operated as follows: Americanas allegedly concealed more than R$20 billion in supplier-financing obligations from its financial statements and falsified cooperative advertising allowance agreements—payments commonly charged by retailers to promote suppliers’ products. Through this combination, the company was able to report financial results and leverage indicators that appeared significantly stronger than they actually were.

In late March 2025, federal prosecutors formally charged 13 executives, including Gutierrez and other former Americanas executives such as Anna Saicali, José Timotheo de Barros, and Márcio Cruz, who formed the retailer’s senior management core.

The operation launched on Thursday extends the investigation to banks that provided supplier-financing arrangements to Americanas. Evidence gathered over recent years includes emails and messages between Americanas executives and bank officials in which the retailer’s management allegedly sought to persuade lenders not to classify supplier-financing transactions as debt in balance-confirmation letters sent to auditing firms.

The new phase of the investigation also targets Sicupira and board members who served during the period in question, as authorities seek to determine whether they were aware of the alleged manipulations—an allegation they have consistently denied.

All those named were contacted for comment. So far, Itaú and Bradesco, whose executives are among the targets of the operation, have responded.

In a statement, Bradesco said it is “monitoring the case and remains available to the authorities.”

Itaú stated that it is not under investigation but has cooperated with authorities since the beginning of the case. The bank’s statement said:

“Regarding today’s operation, Itaú Unibanco, although not under investigation, clarifies that it has actively cooperated with authorities since 2023, providing all information related to the Americanas case. Official investigations have already shown that the retailer was the scene of one of the largest corporate frauds in the country.

“The bank, which suffered multibillion-real losses as a result of the episode, has already demonstrated the propriety of its conduct and that of its employees through documents submitted to the courts. The records clearly show, for example, that Itaú refused requests from Americanas’s former management to alter balance-confirmation letters.

“The institution reiterates that it has always acted with ethical and regulatory rigor and continues to support and trust the work of authorities in fully clarifying the irregularities committed by the retailer’s former management.”

Americanas also said in a statement that it “will continue to cooperate with the investigations and is the party most interested in clarifying the facts.”

This article was translated from Valor Econômico using an artificial intelligence tool under the supervision of the Valor International editorial team to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to our editorial standards. Read our Editorial Principles.