SÃO PAULO (AP) — Brazil-Fraud in Retail
The former CEO of Brazilian retail giant Americanas, Miguel Gutierrez, was arrested Friday in Madrid, accused of participating in a 25 billion reais ($4.5 billion) fraud scheme.
Brazil’s Federal Police added his name to Interpol’s red alert list after determining that the company falsified financial results to inflate cash flow and artificially inflate the company’s shares. Former directors committed fraud by advancing payments to suppliers through loans, engaging in market manipulation, abuse of privileged information, criminal association and money laundering, according to a statement from investigators.
The investigation began in January 2023, after Gutierrez’s successor took over as CEO and soon revealed a cash deficit of 20 billion reais ($3.6 billion).
Gutierrez’s lawyer told local media that his client cooperated with authorities and denies any involvement in the fraudulent scheme.
Gutierrez, who is also a Spanish citizen, joined Americanas in 1993 and held several positions, earning the trust of shareholders Carlos Alberto Sicupira, Marcel Telles and Jorge Paulo Lemann – a multibillionaire and the second richest person in Brazil.
The Federal Public Ministry stated that the company’s management cooperated with the investigation by providing information about the fraud scheme.
Brazil’s federal government has not yet received a request for Gutierrez’s extradition from the court. Brazil signed an extradition treaty with Spain in 1988, stipulating that each country can refuse to extradite its own citizens. The Spanish national police neither confirmed nor denied the arrest.
On Thursday, the Brazilian Federal Police executed 15 arrest warrants and search and seizure orders for other former directors of Americanas in Rio de Janeiro and seized their assets. Lemann, Sicupira and Telles were not included in this police operation.
