Justice decreed the preventive detention of André Weiss, former director of the São Paulo Treasury Secretariat, identified as the leader of the public nucleus of a corruption and tax fraud scheme. Lawyer João André Buttini de Moraes, identified as the head of the private nucleus, also had his arrest decreed.
According to the Public Ministry, the group turned ICMS reimbursement requests into a private business within the Treasury. Lawyers sought out large companies with millions of reais in credits to receive, while former tax inspectors who moved to private firms used their contacts in the secretariat to unblock processes. The fee varied from 1% to 10% of the value of the released credit.
Paulo Sérgio Siqueira Prado, former tax delegate of Butantã, admitted to having received more than 20.5 million reais in illicit benefits between 2019 and 2025. He declared that 250,000 reais per month were paid to André Weiss so that he would remain in the position in Butantã until retirement.
