A partner in Fast Shop signed a contract with a company under investigation in a R$ 200 million tax fraud scheme.
The Public Prosecutor's Office points out that the controllers of the retailer were aware of the agreement with Smart Tax, which is suspected of facilitating ICMS tax credits.
247 - The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in São Paulo has obtained new evidence that reinforces suspicions of tax crimes involving major Brazilian retail chains. According to a report by... Valor EconômicoProsecutors located a contract between Fast Shop and the consulting firm Smart Tax — accused of operating an irregular ICMS credit release scheme — digitally signed on December 3, 2021, by Julio Atsushi Kakumoto, a member of the family that controls the chain, and by Mario Gomes, a statutory director arrested last Tuesday (12) during “Operation Ícaro”.
Fast Shop reported that it is still evaluating the content of the investigations and is cooperating with the authorities. Julio is a partner in Fastpar Holding, the company that controls the retailer. According to reports... PriceThe investigators obtained other contracts signed with Smart Tax that provide evidence of knowledge on the part of the controllers. In a document sent to the court, the Public Prosecutor's Office described that "the analysis of his [Silva Neto's] email proved that, in fact, Artur has been acting in favor of Fast Shop in collusion with numerous members of the company's top management."
Million-dollar amount and impact on results.
In 2023 alone, Fast Shop paid R$ 204 million to Smart Tax, in gross amounts, distributed in 11 installments. In two consecutive months—February and March—net payments reached almost R$ 20 million, according to internal emails sent by the network's management to the consulting firm. The weight of the contract becomes evident when compared to the company's financial performance: net revenue in 2023 was R$ 3,6 billion and profit was R$ 82 million, meaning that the amounts paid to Smart Tax exceeded the annual profit by more than double.
Between 2021 and 2022, the contract value grew almost sixfold, jumping from R$ 36 million (in 12 installments) to the R$ 204 million recorded last year. Smart Tax has as a partner the retired teacher Kimio Silva, mother of Artur Silva Neto, director of inspection at the São Paulo State Treasury Department and under investigation for corruption to expedite the release of tax credits to companies.
Connections with other networks and modus operandi
WhatsApp messages and meeting schedules indicate direct contact between Silva Neto and Fast Shop executives, as well as scheduled virtual meetings with the company's tax department until December 2024. The Public Prosecutor's Office states that this is "strong evidence that the criminal practices continue to this day."
The same pattern of behavior was identified in negotiations with the Oxxo supermarket chain. Emails from November 2024 show that Agnaldo de Campos, identified as Silva Neto's intermediary, presented a proposal for the "identification, quantification, issuance, and recovery of administrative credits" for Oxxo. Three weeks later, Smart Tax sent the auditor the signed confidentiality agreement. The Nós/Oxxo Group stated that it had not been notified about the investigation and reaffirmed its commitment to legality and transparency.
There are also references to Kalunga in documents from 2022, when a tax office assistant asked Silva Neto for help dealing with attachments to a reimbursement request from the company. To date, the other companies mentioned have not responded.
Structure of the investigated scheme
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, Silva Neto acted "at all stages" of the process to more quickly release ICMS credits resulting from tax substitution — a mechanism that concentrates the collection of the tax on a single taxpayer. Normally, the return of these credits takes months or years, but, with the intermediation of Smart Tax, companies would seek to "jump the queue" in exchange for bribes.
The investigation indicates that, in addition to Fast Shop, Oxxo, and Kalunga, other large companies, such as Ultrafarma, also resorted to the same tactic. In Operation Ícaro, the founder of Ultrafarma, Sidney Oliveira, and the director of Fast Shop, Mario Gomes, were arrested, both accused of participating in the scheme.
