Lawyer accused of São Paulo tax-office queue-jumping scheme moved 2.1 billion reais through personal accounts

For years, major retailers and wholesalers seeking tax-credit reimbursements allegedly relied on lawyer João André Buttini de Moraes to unlock requests inside São Paulo’s state tax administration. Prosecutors say that speed came with regular cash bribes to senior tax officials.

Buttini was arrested on Thursday morning after investigators found that 2.1 billion reais moved through his personal accounts between 2017 and 2024, the period prosecutors identify as the height of the scheme. His defense said it would provide the authorities with all necessary explanations once it had full access to the case file.

A judge ordered the arrests of Buttini and André Weiss, a former director-general of the Executive Directorate of Tax Administration, in Operation Caldarium. The investigation expanded after tax auditor Paulo Sérgio Siqueira do Prado, known as “PP,” reached a plea agreement and described the alleged financial arrangements.

“

As soon as it has full access to the case file, the defense will provide all necessary explanations to the competent authorities.

According to prosecutors, the payments operated through four different mechanisms. They included 4.3 million reais in cash delivered to auditor André Weiss inside archive boxes in a parking lot, as well as transfers and payments disguised as invoices for services the Public Prosecutor’s Office says were never performed.

During a search of PP’s home on February 11, investigators seized a document prepared by Buttini that listed payments allegedly made with criminal proceeds. Prosecutors said the document supported the informant’s account. A spreadsheet and handwritten draft mapped the distribution of the alleged bribes and included the notation “brokerage 3% / Dr. João.” Prosecutors argue that these materials indicate Buttini was more than an outside tax lawyer. They say he had privileged access to state officials and advance knowledge of decisions on his clients’ administrative cases. The alleged ICMS queue-jumping scheme had operated inside São Paulo’s Finance and Planning Secretariat since at least 2002, with former auditor Artur Gomes da Silva Neto, known as “King,” identified by prosecutors as its mentor.

“

These elements are used by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to argue that the investigated person did not merely practice outside tax law, but had privileged access to members of the state structure and prior knowledge of the outcome of administrative proceedings involving his clients.