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Santander’s main accounting director is under a criminal investigation in Brazil for the alleged pronunciation of funds while working as a higher executive director at the largest bank in the country.
The documents reviewed by The Financial Times show that Brazilian federal prosecutors have made the police this month to launch an investigation by Alexandra Broedel Lopes, a former Chief Financial Director in Itat Unibrovac.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in São Paulo sent a case to the police after the preliminary testing of alleged crime, the documents show.
Ita has followed the accusations that Broedel personally benefited from the fees he had paid to the external advisor he hired on behalf of the bank while working there.
Broedel was not charged with any crime, and Brazilian federal police said they did not confirm or comment on possible investigations in progress. The federal prosecution announced that he could not confirm the investigation.
Broedel joined Saander In October, he should take over the duty of the Spanish Group’s main accounting in the coming months – the role that will make him a member of the senior bank management teams.
He received the necessary approval from the regulator, Santanger said. They include the passage of the “FIT and the Right” of the European Central Bank for Elder Managers.
The discovery of a police investigation comes after Ita, the largest Brazilian bank, filed two civil lawsuits against Broedel and others in December and January, with the submission of a request for embezzlement similar to those now investigated by the police.
The bank also attracted claims to the attention of the Public Prosecutor, according to the documents seen by FT.
Following the initial investigations, during which he heard the accounts of Broedel’s lawyer, the prosecutor decided that the executive police investigation was needed to “establish facts”, the documents show.
Santander said Broedel was a “highly respected executive director” who “should have taken as Cao later this year”, adding that he “monitored any events”. The Spanish lender said earlier that Broedel would begin as the main accounting director in “early 2025”.
In a FT statement given by Santanger, a Broedel spokesman described the charges Itaú as “unfounded and meaningless.”
“Alexandro Broedel has always been performed ethically and transparently in all its activities during his 12 years in the bank,” the statement said.
According to the prosecutor’s report, which he sent to the police, and the Civil Court of Court, ita claimed that Broedel had sipped the funds from the bank through an arrangement with an external advisor he hired on behalf of the lender.
Ita has claimed that Broedel eventually received 40 percent of the fees he had paid to the advisor after the money was transferred through a series of entities. In total, Broedel allegedly received $ 4.86 million illegally ($ 834,000), according to a civil lawsuit.
Itaú claimed that he could not find appropriate records for 16 of 40 contracts with the counselor and claimed that they may have been fabricated and that the job may never have been done.
Broedel also allegedly failed to report an ITALL team of internal compliance that he and an external counselor were partners at a company called Broedel Consulturs Associados, according to documents.
In his report sent to the police, the prosecutor said Broedel said that the amounts he had received from the Loan Advisor.
However, the prosecutor’s report questioned why the transfers were made through companies, not directly by the advisor and why the relationship between the two was not declared Itaú. The report is also stated at the time of payment, asking questions about “Close to the transfer relative to the bank payments”.
Broedel resigned from Itaú in July to take over the job in Santander, and the Brazilian bank put on gardening leave. It was later rejected by Itau after discovering allegations against him, he said in a civil lawsuit.
Santander’s Board of Directors agreed to Broedel’s appointment to the main accounting of the group last June, before the allegations were brought to light.
Broedel spokesman said: “The counselor mentioned by ITAú Unibanco has been providing services to the bank for decades, long before Broedel was invited to join [Itaú’s] board. The services mentioned were known to Itatan, and they demand different areas of the bank.
“It is deeply strange that Itaú Unibro should raise suspicion of allegedly violations of behavior only after Broedel resigned from his position at the bank to occupy a global position on one of his main competitors. Alexandro Broedel will take appropriate legal procedures in this case.”
A person close to Santander described a police investigation as a “preliminary phase to determine if the criminal one could be persecuted,” adding that this does not mean that the prosecution will be persecuted.
Ita has refused to comment.
