Lawyer arrested in SP multiplied assets tenfold and generated R$ 2.12 billion, says MP

Buttini's personal accounts recorded a gross movement of R$2.12 billion between January 2018 and November 2025.

Lawyer João André Buttini de Moraes, arrested this Thursday (3) in an operation against corruption in the São Paulo tax administration, multiplied his declared assets tenfold between 2017 and 2024, according to the São Paulo Public Ministry (MP-SP).

The fortune reported by the lawyer went from R$30.5 million to R$314.2 million in seven years. According to investigators, more than 99% of Buttini's declared income was made up of tax-free dividends distributed by companies linked to him.

The MP-SP names Buttini as the leader of the private nucleus of a criminal organization that charged bribes to interfere in the analysis and release of tax credits at the São Paulo Finance and Planning Secretariat.

According to the investigation, the lawyer attracted large taxpayers, negotiated fees and facilities and allocated part of the amounts received to public agents responsible for unlocking, accelerating or approving tax refund requests.

The defense of lawyer João André Buttini de Moraes stated "that he is aware of the elements of the investigation and the circumstances that led to the operation.

In total transparency and collaboration with the investigation, it informs that as soon as it has full access to the case files, it will provide all necessary clarifications to the competent authorities."

Buttini's personal accounts recorded a gross movement of R$2.12 billion between January 2018 and November 2025, including inflows and outflows, according to the breach of banking secrecy.

The MP-SP itself points out that this value counts twice the resources that entered and subsequently left the accounts and includes redemptions of investments, loans and transfers between the lawyer's own accounts.

After excluding these operations, the investigation identified R$383.47 million in funds actually received from third parties — an average of more than R$48 million per year.

Of this total, R$336.28 million, or 87.7%, came from the companies linked to Buttini, including the Buttini de Moraes Sociedade de Advogados office, BM Tax, BM Investimentos and Juri Consultoria Empresarial.

For investigators, the amounts circulated through the companies and reached Buttini's personal assets mainly in the form of dividends.

The law firm alone distributed R$80.15 million in dividends to Buttini in 2023 and 2024. Considering all companies in the group, payments exceeded R$190 million in the period analyzed.

The investigation also states that the lawyer sent R$36.5 million abroad, an amount more than eight times higher than the R$4.4 million declared in an account at Itaú Miami.

The Public Ministry also identified two high-value real estate acquisitions without finding bank withdrawals corresponding to the payments in the examined accounts: a property called Mansão Tucumã, worth R$33 million, and a set of properties in Itupeva valued at R$40 million.

The breach of confidentiality showed that five large companies together paid R$140.65 million to the office and companies linked to Buttini between 2018 and 2025.

The payments corresponded to legal and tax consultancy services and do not, in themselves, represent any irregularity.

The MP-SP maintains, however, that a portion of the fees received by Buttini would have been used to pay bribes to public agents. The documents do not clarify whether the companies that hired the group were aware of the alleged illicit payments.

Paulo Prado declared that he received R$13,600,200 from Buttini between 2021 and 2025 to speed up and unlock tax requests from the firm's clients.

According to the employee, R$4.5 million was later transferred to André Weiss, who headed the Executive General Directorate of Tax Administration until May of this year.

Deliveries would have taken place in cash, inside backpacks, mainly in restaurants in Pinheiros. Weiss was also arrested preventively this Thursday.

When authorizing the arrests, the Court stated that the report of the award-winning collaboration is supported by handwritten documents, bank and tax data, reports from the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf), messages extracted from electronic devices and an environmental recording submitted for forensic examination.

The MP-SP investigates possible crimes involving criminal organizations, active and passive corruption and money laundering. Those mentioned have not yet been judged.

"Since the launch of Operation Ícaro, in August 2025, the Secretariat of Finance and Planning has worked together with the Public Ministry of São Paulo in the rigorous investigation of the facts. The department's actions resulted in the dismissal of five involved, in addition to one exoneree and 17 employees removed without pay.

The companies involved are also being held responsible, with specific assessments that have already resulted in the creation of more than R$3 billion in tax credits, fines and interest.

Any new fact arising from the developments of the operation, including possible plea agreements or allegations, will be rigorously investigated and, if irregularities are proven, the appropriate measures will be adopted.

The Secretariat fully cooperates with the investigations and reaffirms its commitment to the rigorous investigation and accountability of possible deviations, without any tolerance for irregular conduct."