Court denies summary acquittal for tax auditor accused of taking R$1.5 million in bribes over 10 years

A São Paulo state tax auditor, João Zana, has been denied a summary acquittal by the judiciary in a case where he is accused of receiving approximately R$1.5 million in bribes over a ten-year period. The alleged illicit payments were reportedly made by a businessman involved in the furniture industry in the interior of São Paulo, between 2005 and 2015.

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The publication of procedural acts in the Official Gazette of Justice is mandatory by law and constitutes a form of publicizing the acts of the process, being inherent to the Brazilian procedural system.

Zana, formerly the regional tax delegate in Araraquara, also requested that his name be omitted from future official publications. However, the judge presiding over the case at the 2nd Court of Rio Claro denied this request, stating that "the publication of procedural acts in the Official Gazette of Justice is mandatory by law and constitutes a form of publicizing the acts of the process, being inherent to the Brazilian procedural system."

The court further clarified that any potential "abuses or illegalities in the disclosure by third parties (media, press) are beyond the jurisdictional control within the scope of the process." The judge emphasized that there is no legal provision to exclude an accused person's name from official process publications.

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Potential abuses or illegalities in the disclosure by third parties (media, press) are beyond the jurisdictional control within the scope of the process, and should be the subject of appropriate measures before the competent bodies.

Additionally, the defense for businessman Danilo Lunardi Scussolino, who entered into a plea bargain agreement with the Public Prosecutor's Office, had their request for judicial pardon denied. Scussolino revealed details of the decade-long illicit payments allegedly made by his father to João Zana. The prosecution alleges that Zana received the bribes to keep the family business "safe" from fiscal inspections. The process for passive corruption was opened against Zana in April, while Scussolino is also a defendant for active corruption.

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There is no legal provision for the name of the accused to be omitted from the official publications of the process.