Businessman Marco Aurélio Garcia, brother of former São Paulo governor Rodrigo Garcia, has filed a lawsuit against a law firm, accusing a law firm of using an intern to infiltrate the circle of friends of his daughter, a well-known fashion designer and influencer. The objective would be to issue judicial notice in New York (USA) on a process linked to bankruptcy in which both are targeted.
The plot reported in the court filing includes the intern joining a WhatsApp group called “Seguidoras NYC” as part of the strategy of the process to find Stephanie Garcia. (featured photo). The case in question concerns the billion-dollar bankruptcy of the Rontan Group, which spanned from ambulance manufacturing to the telecommunications sector.
Marco Aurélio Garcia cites a series of alleged irregularities in his request for dismissal of the judicial administrator of the case. The administrator accuses Garcia of being part of a “web of deceptive relationships” designed to protect assets and hide them from creditors of the bankruptcy estate.
Undercover intern
According to Garcia’s defense, the Duarte Forssel Advogados firm — hired by the receiver and specialized in asset recovery abroad — was responsible for the alleged persecution of his daughter outside the country.
In her petition, she claims that an intern named Anna Beatriz used “emotional engineering” to get close to 33-year-old Stephanie Garcia.
The document states that she managed to join the WhatsApp group “by presenting herself as an admirer of Ms Stephanie and expressing interest in meeting her in person”. Influencer with more than 100,000 followers, Stéphanie is a frequent figure in social columns, which reported her luxurious wedding in Morocco, in the presence of actress Marina Ruy Barbosa.
The interaction between the intern and the influencer began on social media, according to the petition. “The young woman responded to the photos, commented on the stories, used welcoming and jovial language, constructing the image of a simple excited follower,” reports the document.
Dinner in New York
After weeks of getting together, the intern asked Stephanie’s friends to attend a planned dinner in New York, according to the petition. In a printout attached to the process (see below)the intern says: “Hi Té, how are you?? I responded to your dinner stories on Wednesday. I just arrived in New York after the trip, I was very excited hahah (sic)”.
On November 20, what Garcia’s defense calls “the decisive stage of the ruse” took place. “A few hours before dinner — having already secured the exact location, time and dynamics of the private meeting — the intern suddenly dropped out, sending a message to the group: “Girls, I had an unexpected incident. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go there anymore. I’m sorry.”
Garcia’s lawyer claims the withdrawal was a smokescreen for the venue to be passed on to a third party. According to the document, a hired man “went to the Manhattan restaurant, shouting Ms. Stephanie’s name, demanding that she ‘sign documents,’ filming her with a device hidden in her coat, and attempting to force her to receive a ‘notification from Rontan.’
The court document points out that Stephanie does not live in the United States, which would not justify a surprise action at a private dinner abroad.
“This practice — digital infiltration, identity manipulation, clandestine collection of personal information and subsequent aggressive approach in foreign territory — is not a law: it is an engineering of persecution. It is a clandestine method, unethical, extra-jurisdictional and absolutely incompatible with the delegated public function that the Judicial Administrator exercises,” asserts the petition, signed by lawyer Adolfo Luis Gois. The Report reached out to the attorney, who said Stephanie’s family would only speak on record.
In addition to the declaration during the process, a representation was made to the Ethics Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB).
“Relationship network”
According to the receiver Campi Serviços Empresariais, the partners of Rontan and Marco Aurélio had acted jointly to transfer the assets of the bankrupt company. “In fact, there existed a complex network of deceptive relationships between Marco Aurelio Garcia and the associates of the bankrupt companies, with the sole and clear objective of handing over all their assets to Marco Aurelio, with the aim of protecting and hiding their creditors,” says the article, which also mentions the businessman’s daughter and the former governor’s niece.
Unlike his daughter and brother, Marco Aurélio Garcia, known as Lelo, is a shadowy figure. He only made headlines when he was accused of being a leading figure in the so-called ISS mafia, in which city inspectors took bribes from construction companies in the 2000s. In that case, he even admitted to hiding assets as part of the scheme, as part of an agreement not to press charges.
In the present case, his defense points to a “flagrant violation of Brazilian and American legislation” on the part of the office hired by the judicial administrator.
Hunt for money
Although Marco Aurélio was not officially part of Rontan, he became involved in the business by renting a factory from the company. Often, bankruptcy actions involve what are called corporate veil piercing incidents, which seek to find assets allegedly tied to the bankrupt company to pay creditors.
Businessmen heard by Metropolises involved in similar cases, however, point to a sort of industry in this type of action, supported by alleged abuses and exorbitant fees.
In this area, the Duarte Forssel firm, whose founding partners are lawyers Henrique Forssell and Octaviano Duarte Filho, has been involved in clashes with large, bankrupt businessmen. One of the most noisy was the dispute in which the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) validated the collection of 30% fees in the case of search and freezing of the assets of the businessman Daniel Birmann, partner of the company Sam Indústrias, bankrupt in 2008. As the bankruptcy had liabilities of R$ 600 million, the costs could exceed R$ 180 million, said the news from the era.
The case of Rontan is even more important. The receiver said in a document that debts subject to judicial recovery reached 1.6 billion reais in 2022. The scale of the amounts that Duarte Forssel’s office could accept worries even some creditors who have filed a petition questioning the hiring of the company and the amount it will receive.
What the office says
The Duarte Forsell law firm declares that “Stephanie García is a defendant (along with other parties) in an incident of misunderstanding of legal personality which determines the occurrence of fraud against the group of creditors of the Rontan Group”.
The bank clarifies that procedural notifications resulting from foreign processes are carried out in accordance with the law of each country. “In the case in question, all procedural disclosure procedures were conducted in accordance with applicable law,” the office said.
The note also specifies that the office uses public data, particularly on social networks. “The DFA (Duarte Forssell Advogados), whose hiring was preceded by judicial authorization, strictly respects the ethical standards relating to its legal activity.”
The report also contacted the intern through the office, but the memo makes no mention of the young woman’s precise location. THE Metropolises He asked the judicial administrator Campi Serviços to comment on this matter, but did not receive a response until the publication of this report. The space remains open.
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