Executives at Americanas received R$ 700 million over ten years, masking the biggest accounting fraud in history.
The company hid losses and distributed millions in profits to its executives.
247 - A AmericansThe company owned by billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann, Beto Sicupira, and Marcel Telles, which was at the center of the biggest accounting scandal in the country's history, distributed billions in profits to its executives, who "didn't see" the financial hole.
"Throughout the decade in which Americanas masked a debt of R$ 20 billion, in what is already one of the biggest accounting scandals in the Brazilian capital market, the retailer's executives amassed at least R$ 700 million in compensation (including salaries, performance bonuses, and payment in shares or options), shows a survey conducted by Pipeline based on data available in the company's reference forms. Shareholders were also compensated based on these results, which are now being questioned, with a large portion of the dividends going to the former controlling shareholders and also rewarding the equity in shares of top executives," points out the report. Pipeline service, from Valor EconômicoTo tell the behind-the-scenes story of the fraud, the TV 247 will produce a documentary about the case..
The project
In early 2023, Brazilians were shocked by the biggest accounting fraud in Brazilian history: the manipulation of R$ 20 billion in the financial statements of Americanas, a retail company controlled by Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira, and Marcel Telles, three of the richest men in the country.
The fraud was surprising because it directly targeted three figures revered by economic journalism as "heroes" of Brazilian capitalism, who also control Ambev and were involved in the privatization process of Eletrobrás, carried out under cover of night. Inexplicably, the fraud was also not detected by the auditors at PwC, one of the world's largest auditing firms.
The scandal culminated in a multi-billion dollar default to creditors, which will result in greater restrictions in the private credit market, with negative repercussions for economic growth. Furthermore, employees lost their jobs, tens of thousands of investors saw their assets vanish, and more than a thousand investment funds, including fixed-income funds, were negatively affected.
To complete the catastrophe, the controlling shareholders refused to recapitalize the company, even after receiving dividends on fabricated profits for several years. Besides defrauding creditors, the case also shows signs of tax fraud. And the company owners, who are the main proponents of the "meritocracy" thesis, wielding strong influence on the public agenda, flaunt a luxurious lifestyle, with assets such as yachts, helicopters, and ultra-luxurious private jets.
To carry out this project, TV 247, which currently has nearly 1,2 million subscribers to its channel and a history of several successful documentaries, will interview investors, employees, suppliers of Americanas, as well as authorities responsible for regulating and overseeing the capital market.
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