The Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office launched the second phase of Operation Disclosure this Thursday, June 25th, investigating alleged accounting fraud estimated at R$ 54 billion at Americanas.
Paulo Alberto Lemann, son of Jorge Paulo Lemann, and Carlos Alberto Sicupira are the targets of search and seizure warrants, according to UOL . The Federal Police have not officially released the names of those under investigation.
In total, nine search and seizure warrants are being executed in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The 10th Federal Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro ordered the seizure of assets and funds in the names of those under investigation, up to a limit of R$ 54 billion.
Paulo Lemann, who was an advisor, and Sicupira, along with Marcel Telles and Jorge Paulo Lemann, were part of the trio that controlled Americanas. Sicupira was the group's representative most directly involved in the company's day-to-day operations, having also served as an advisor.
According to the Federal Police, the suspects were aware of accounting fraud committed over the years, related to discounted risk operations – a mechanism by which the retailer anticipated payments to suppliers via bank loans – and to cooperative advertising funds (VPC) contracts allegedly accounted for without economic backing. The investigations point to evidence of the crimes of market manipulation and criminal association.
The financial hole at Americanas came to light in January 2023 , when the company's new management revealed billion-dollar inconsistencies in its financial statements. The initial estimate of R$ 20 billion was revised to R$ 25.3 billion by the company itself and reached R$ 54 billion in the investigations by the Federal Police.
The revelation caused the retailer's shares to plummet from around R$12 to R$0.40 in just a few days and led the company to file for bankruptcy protection, with declared debts of R$42.5 billion.
The first phase of Operation Disclosure was launched in June 2024. At that time, the Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office executed two preventive arrest warrants and 15 search and seizure warrants against former directors of the retailer, resulting in the freezing of assets exceeding R$ 500 million.
The main targets at the time — former CEO Miguel Gutierrez and former director Anna Christina Ramos Saicali — could not be located because they were outside the country and their names were added to Interpol's list. At that stage, the Federal Police made no mention of the company's reference shareholders.
