The third phase of the fake agents operation, launched by the Federal Police on Thursday (11/13), shows that the FGTS diversion scheme affected nationally and internationally famous players, as well as former athletes and coaches.
Among those investigated in the previous stages was lawyer Joana Prado, a well-known figure in the world of sports who held prominent positions in football clubs and entities.
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Caixa employees are being targeted by PF for players’ FGTS fraud
According to the PF, the criminal group embezzled approximately R$7 million through fraudulent withdrawal requests from the guarantee fund, carried out using forged documents and with the support of Caixa Econômica Federal employees. The lawyer, who was to coordinate the operation, has had her license suspended from the OAB.
Who is the lawyer being investigated?
Joana Prado de Oliveira built her soccer career in Rio de Janeiro. She worked for 12 years at Botafogo, joining in 2003 and reaching the position of legal director of the club in 2007.
Before that, she was auditor at the Rio Court of Justice for Sports, and is currently a member of the OAB-RJ Sports Law Committee.
His influence in the world of sports enabled him to get closer to athletes and coaches, who today appear as victims of deviations.
Injured players and former athletes
According to information collected by the Palestinian Police, sums were withdrawn from at least five prominent names from their accounts linked to the General Tax Fund:
- Juninho, former Botafogo defender
- Paulo Guerrero, former Corinthians, Flamengo and Internazionale player
- Cristian Cueva, former Sao Paulo and Santos player
- Joao Rojas, the Ecuadorian who played for Sao Paulo between 2018 and 2021
- Ramires, Cruzeiro and former Chelsea and Brazilian national team
In addition to these, other Brazilian and foreign players, whose names have not been revealed, also appear among the victims identified in the new phase of the investigation.
Trainer Oswaldo de Oliveira also discovered irregular withdrawals from his FGTS and contacted the authorities.
How the scheme worked
The operation began after a private bank discovered an account opened with forged documents in the name of a Peruvian player. Through the fraudulent account, an amount of 2.2 million Brazilian riyals was transferred, only from the player Paulo Guerrero.
From this case, investigators accessed the rest of the structure: irregularly opened accounts, fraudulent withdrawal requests, and facilitation of release at specific branches of Kaisha.
The arrest warrants in this case targeted Caixa employees in Tijuca, Ramos and Deodoro, as well as a branch in central Rio.
Crimes investigated
Those involved may be liable for forgery of public documents, embezzlement and criminal association.
The investigation is being conducted by the Sensitive Investigations Unit of the Police Center for the Suppression of Financial Crimes (UIS/Delefaz), with the support of the Caixa Intelligence District.
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