Brazilian court docket orders seizure of emails of bankrupt retailer Americanas
By Tatiana Bautzer
SAO PAULO, Jan 26 (Reuters) – A Brazilian court docket has ordered the seizure of all company emails of managers and board members from bankrupt retailer Americanas SA despatched and obtained during the last 10 years, in response to paperwork seen by Reuters.
Earlier this week, Decide Andrea Palma of federal court docket in Sao Paulo agreed with a request from Americanas creditor Banco Bradesco SA, which had requested for the seizure of emails, citing its perception that “administrators, board members, shareholders and auditors allowed a large accounting fraud to occur.”
Bradesco stated in an affidavit that it has loans of 4.7 billion reais ($927 million) with the retailer, which filed for chapter safety earlier this month, days after disclosing almost $4 billion in accounting inconsistencies.
Bradesco stated it was in search of proof for potential litigation in opposition to Americanas, its managers, and doubtlessly its controlling shareholders over “abuse of energy”. Americanas’ largest shareholders are the billionaire founders of 3G Capital, Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles.
Americanas didn’t instantly touch upon the matter. Bradesco declined to remark.
Any proof uncovered can be used to “examine the explanation for the accounting fraud” and who inside Americanas “mandated the fraud or participated in it by motion or omission,” the Bradesco affidavit stated.
The choose dominated that each one e mail communications of Americanas’ managers during the last 10 years ought to be seized, in addition to the emails of board members and members of the audit committee in the identical interval. The choose additionally ordered the seizure of all emails of workers within the finance and accounting division.
In her choice, the choose stated that though Americanas had created a committee to research the matter, any danger of destruction of proof have to be prevented. The choose named Ernst & Younger and lawyer Patricia Punder as consultants in accounting and forensic proof to work on the case.
Americanas is one in every of Brazil’s largest retailers and has been in enterprise for over 90 years. ($1 = 5.0710 reais) (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer, Modifying by Rosalba O’Brien)