Brazilian Federal Police tighten the net around former PanAmericano executives: was Silvio Santos the only one unaware of the corruption scheme?

Fernando Porfírio_247 - The investigation at Banco Panamericano is leading the Federal Police to indict the heads and former executives of the financial institution. This Tuesday (1), the PF decided to include the former president of the Silvio Santos group, Luiz Sandoval. The former executive testified at the PF headquarters, in the Lapa neighborhood.

According to Santoval's lawyer, Alberto Zacharias Toron, the police concluded that the former executive was not directly involved in the bank's affairs, but that there was evidence suggesting he was aware of the irregularities identified in the previous management of Panamericano.

The men who ran Silvio Santos' bank are suspected of accounting fraud, allegedly embezzling funds from the financial institution for their own benefit or that of third parties, and there are also indications that they used shell companies to launder the embezzled money.

On Monday (31) the Federal Police had already indicted the former managing director of Panamericano, Rafael Palladino. He is suspected of fraud and a loss of R$ 4,3 billion. The police indicted Palladino for the crimes of money laundering, forming a criminal organization, fraudulent management of a financial institution and crimes against the financial system.

Two weeks ago, the Federal Court prohibited all former directors of Panamericano from leaving the country and ordered them to surrender their passports. According to the ruling, they are also prohibited from communicating with current and former employees of the institution.

The decision limiting the movements of executives from the bank that belonged to the group of businessman and TV presenter Silvio Santos was made by Judge Douglas Camarinha Gonzales of the 6th Federal Criminal Court in São Paulo. The magistrate is responsible for the police investigation into the bank fraud.

The judge ordered the Federal Police to conduct searches to seize documents, computers, accounting records, and assets at the residence of the former legal director of Panamericano, Luiz Augusto Teixeira de Carvalho Bruno.

The indictment of the bank's top executives is based on the testimonies of nine witnesses and an intelligence report from the Council for the Control of Financial Activities (Coaf).

Final investigations into the Panamericano fraud have led the Federal Police to identify several executives of the financial institution as the perpetrators of the crimes that caused a R$ 4,3 billion loss to the bank. This week, the Federal Police are expected to finalize the indictments of the remaining executives.

In addition to Palladino and Sandoval, Luiz Augusto Teixeira de Carvalho Bruno, former legal director, should also be heard. They are expected to leave the Federal Police building in São Paulo already officially charged. Last week, Wilson Roberto De Aro, former financial director – who was identified by witnesses as one of the masterminds of the scheme – and Adalberto Saviolli, former credit and collection director, were indicted.

Marcos Augusto Monteiro, responsible for the bank's accounting, and Eduardo de Ávila Pinto Coelho, former technology director, are also among those accused in the final phase of the investigation.

According to the Federal Police investigation, the bank's then accounting manager, Marco Antonio Pereira da Silva, stated that Wilson Roberto de Aro – former financial director and investor relations officer – ordered the accounting fraud.

The Federal Police have in their possession a report from COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control), which further implicates Aro. The document shows that the executive made two withdrawals allegedly from an account belonging to a company owned by the Silvio Santos Group, from which he supposedly resigned in November 2010. The first withdrawal was on June 10, 2011, in the amount of R$ 122,7; the second, of R$ 337,2, five days later.