Fitness influencer and businessman Renato Cariani and his wife, Tatiane, stored around R$1.2 million in cash in 2022, a period when Anidrol, Cariani’s chemical company, was already the target of an investigation over allegations of detour of inputs for the production of crack and cocaine. The amount was officially declared by the couple to the Internal Revenue Service in the same year.
According to Metrópoles, the data is part of the Federal Police (PF) investigation that was the basis for the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPSP) complaint against Cariani and four of his partners at Anidrol. Two weeks ago, the group became defendants for the crimes of drug trafficking, association with drug trafficking and money laundering.
The PF states in the investigation that the amount of cash stored by Cariani “is not common”. “Nowadays, in view of the various tools made available by banking institutions, such as Pix, Ted, Doc, in which they provide more security and convenience to customers, someone storing large amounts of cash draws attention,” it says.
Another argument used by the PF is that in the chemical industry, of which Cariani’s company is a part, “it is not common to receive cash on a daily basis”.
The increase in cash declared by the businessman from one year to the next also caught the attention of investigators. Between 2021 and 2022, the amount stored by Cariani in cash increased from R$150,000 to R$942,256.00, an increase of R$792,000.
The PF states in the investigation that “it is not possible to know the origin and destination of the cash moved over the years”.
“The declarations submitted to the tax authorities show fluctuations of more than R$700,000.00 stored from one year to the next. Therefore, it is not possible to know the origin or destination of the cash moved over these years,” says the PF investigation.
In the case of the influencer’s wife, Tatiane Cariani, the PF noticed an increase of R$300,000 in the declarations of amounts in cash in the year 2022Â – which raised suspicions on the part of investigators, since she had never declared any amount in cash in the previous eight years.
Suspicion of evasion
In the investigation, the PF also points to the possibility that Cariani may have evaded a mansion in Campos do Jordão – SP. The PF report presents an excerpt from the property’s deed in which the American Frank Socorro and the Brazilian Emerson Bacelar Brandão are listed as owners, but also includes emails exchanged by Cariani that indicate the purchase of the mansion by the fitness influencer in 2012, for R$470,000.
Cariani confirmed the purchase in testimony, although the property does not appear on his income tax returns. He said that he had only paid for 50% of the house, in order to prove the usucapion of the other 50%.