Employees of the Mato Grosso Court of Auditors (TCE-MT) received millions of reais in suspicious payments to their personal accounts over the course of ten months, according to an investigation by the Federal Police (PF). The values identified were 2,600 times higher than the official salaries of employees in the period.
Among those investigated is the removed president of the court, Sérgio Ricardo de Almeida. He received a monthly salary of R$49,000, the equivalent of R$490,000 in ten months. But, according to the PF, he received R$15.4 million in the same period — around 30 times the value of his official salary.
Other employees also had movements well above the salaries paid by the court.
Legal consultant Ghregory Paiva Pires Moreira Maia received more than R$9 million in ten months, although his salary was just over R$6,000. The amounts were distributed between accounts in nine banks.
Legal assistant Gustavo Fernandes da Silva received almost R$16 million in the period. The presidential legal advisor Felipe José received almost R$10 million.
According to the investigation, payments were made directly from the Court of Auditors' account to the employees' personal accounts, without going through the official payroll. A Federal Police investigator stated that the analysis of bank transactions made it possible to identify a possible parallel payroll.
The PF also identified 144 cash withdrawals from Sérgio Ricardo's accounts between January and October 2025. According to investigators, the president's chief of staff, Roseli Loss, and Adriangelo Barros Antunes, his former brother-in-law, were responsible for withdrawing part of the amounts.
In one of the episodes, recorded by security cameras on September 30, 2025, R$500,000 were withdrawn from a bank branch within the court itself. The images show Roseli going to the bank with Sérgio Ricardo. Afterwards, Adriangelo appears with a backpack that, according to the PF, contained the money.
The investigation identified more than R$100 million in suspicious payments in just ten months. The police, however, believe that the total amount could be higher.
In addition to Sérgio Ricardo, other employees were arrested in the operation. The PF also carried out 29 search and seizure warrants and seized more than 30 cars, more than 70 luxury watches and amounts in excess of R$4 million in cash.
Sérgio Ricardo is being investigated for money laundering, criminal organization and embezzlement, a crime that consists of the embezzlement of public money by an employee who has access to these resources.
The counselor's defense stated that they refute any interpretation that the facts represent irregularities or crimes and that they are convinced of his innocence and the regularity of his actions. He also considered preventive detention to be illegal and unnecessary.
Roseli Loss' defense stated that the PF does not attribute to her receiving any amount and that she will speak out in the records. Adriangelo Barros Antunes said he considers the arrest illegal and will prove his innocence.
Gustavo Fernandes da Silva also stated that he will prove his innocence, but that he will only speak out in the records. Ghregory Maia's lawyer informed that he will only speak out in the process.
The defense of Felipe Glink, also being investigated, stated that he has not yet had access to the investigation and that he will speak out in the process.
In a statement, the Mato Grosso Court of Auditors said that it had dismissed all the employees under investigation, that it had summoned three replacement auditors to act as interim advisors and that it fully collaborates with the investigations.
It is not the first time that Sérgio Ricardo has been removed
Journalist and lawyer, he was a councilor and state deputy for two terms until he reached the Court of Auditors in 2012. In 2017, he was removed, accused of buying the councilor's position.
He returned in 2021, became president and was already in his second term, in charge of a court with a budget of more than 800 million reais per year.
