“Every day it was a brand-new Beetle”: tax inspectors heard discussing bribes

“Every day it was a brand-new Beetle.” That is how one tax auditor recalled the alleged rewards discussed during a lunch recorded as part of São Paulo’s Operation Caldarium.

The operation, launched on Thursday the 3rd by São Paulo’s public prosecutors, arrested a lawyer and a tax auditor who ranked third in the state Revenue Service hierarchy. Investigators suspect both were linked to a corruption scheme involving the reimbursement of tax credits.

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Every day it was a brand-new Beetle.

The recording lasts 46 minutes. It captures a relaxed lunch among friends in Pinheiros, in the western part of São Paulo, with laughter and stories about past cases. At least five tax inspectors were present on July 23, 2023. They recalled experiences from their own careers and a year-end gathering with colleagues from Jundiaí.

One auditor recalled a colleague saying, “Every day it was a brand-new Beetle.” Another participant, identified in the conversation as Rita, allegedly replied: “I took more, 300,000 dollars for each inspection in the 1990s.”

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I took more, 300,000 dollars for each inspection in the 1990s.

The recording came from the cellphone of tax inspector Artur Gomes da Silva Neto, known as “King,” whom investigators describe as a central figure in a multibillion-real bribery scheme at the headquarters of São Paulo’s Revenue Service. Arrested in Operation Ícaro last August, he confessed to involvement in the scheme, according to the investigation, and chose to record the lunch himself.

Prosecutors believe King intended to implicate his colleagues so he would not face the consequences alone if he were eventually caught. Their experts divided the conversation into chapters, beginning with stories about lunches, Jundiaí and the conduct of tax inspectors. The prosecution document describes memories of lunches and old inspection practices dating from the 1960s and 1990s.

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I am a tax inspector’s daughter.