The Brazilian Justice sentenced Vitorio Piffero, former president of Internacional de Porto Alegre, to ten and a half years in prison for having diverted millionaire resources from the club’s coffers between 2015 and 2016, the Prosecutor’s Office reported this Tuesday.
Former Vice President of Finance Pedro Affatato was also sentenced to 19 years and eight months in prison for the crimes of fraud, money laundering and criminal organization, according to the Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Sul in a note.
A court in Porto Alegre found that Piffero was involved in “200 acts of fraud and criminal organization” in the 2015/16 biennium, when he was in charge of Inter, one of the most traditional teams in Brazil.
The sentence, which can be appealed, was issued on Monday and also sentenced a business representative, an engineer linked to the club and an accountant for their participation in the corrupt plot, to sentences of between six and nine years in prison.
The five convicts, who can appeal in freedom and who were also ordered to pay a fine, were denounced for having diverted “more than 13 million reais” (2.6 million dollars/2.4 million euros) of the accounts of the gaucho entity.
The prosecutor in the case, Flávio Duarte, stated in the note that the conviction will serve as “a paradigm, at the national level, for similar situations of fraud and deviations related to sports activities.”
El Internacional confirmed in a statement that “it was aware of the publication of the sentence condemning those involved, as well as the payment of compensation for the damage caused.”
He indicated that, since this is a case that is being processed under summary secrecy, he will wait for “the next developments of the ruling,” which can be appealed by the parties.
However, he stressed that the two former leaders “are no longer part of the membership, nor of the Deliberative Council” of the club and that “all possible administrative measures” were imposed on both of them at the time. EFE
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