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The businesswoman Cristiana Arcangeli loses the trial for the second time after accusing her expartner and business colleague Álvaro Garnero of embezzlement, criminal organization and money laundering
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The businesswoman Cristiana Arcangeli lost for the second time the trial against her exboyfriend and fellow businessman Álvaro Garnero, in which she accused him of embezzlement, criminal organization and money laundering. The decision in the second instance was published on the 7th after the presenter appealed against the original ruling of the São Paulo court of December 1, 2022, which dismissed the application as unfounded.
In the lawsuit, Arcangeli claims that she was “kidnapped” by Garnero to make a $300,000 (around R$1.6 million) investment in the cryptocurrency market and that she received no return on the funds that were transferred to Garnero's personal account. Companion at a bank in New York, USA.
At the time of the events, between 2017 and January 2018, the presenter stated that Álvaro Garnero made investments through a company called Hibridus Club, which was the subject of investigations into an alleged financial pyramid scheme.
The assessment made in the second instance by Judge Leila Hassem da Ponte states: “The transfer from the plaintiff to the defendant is an undisputed aspect of the claim. So the question that remains to be resolved is the defendant's ultimate responsibility for returning the amounts.”
The document also states: “As much as the author tries to attribute responsibility for the destination of the money to the defendant, it is certain that his civil liability was not proven in the case, so it was imperative to prove his claims to reject.”
“In fact, it appears from the files, the original application and the documents attached to the lawsuit that the plaintiff transferred the amount to the defendant, who merely acted as an intermediary so that the defendant could invest the amount in Bitcoin.”, where the from Cryptocurrencies resulting from the process are left to the care of third parties [Helio Caxias] with whom the author actually had a legal relationship,” the document says.
According to the businesswoman's defense, Garnero knew about the investigation and still acted as a hidden partner and was responsible for attracting investors to the Hibridus Club, owned by Hélio Caxias Ribeiro Filho and Thalia Alves Ribeiro.
The decision first noted that Cristiana had “full knowledge” of the legal transaction concluded only with Mr. Helio Caxias and that there was no doubt that the contract was concluded only in the name of the company Hibridos, represented by Administrator Helio Caxias, without any involvement by Alvaro.
Against this background, “it was concluded that the defendant's participation was limited to monitoring the investments made by the plaintiff with the defendant and facilitating the process through the use of his account maintained in the United States for the transfer of the resources,” he explained.
The process
Arcangeli called on the Civil Police and the Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco) of the State Ministry of SP to investigate the expartner, the owners of the Hibridus Club and four other people involved in a criminal organization alleged crime of the Financial pyramid.
The presenter says that she has been trying unsuccessfully to get back the money given to her expartner for two years and that is why she went to court.
In January 2022, lawyer Nelson Wilians, representing businessman Álvaro Garnero, explained that Cristiana had already filed the same request to open a police investigation against his client in court, but in January 2020 the judge overruled the lawsuit “by the absence of a lawsuit” Finally, “there were no signs of a criminal nature in the behavior described.”
The lawyer also explained that “there appear to be unresolved passionate issues in this case” between Cristina and Álvaro, who were friends for five years between 2010 and 2015.
In response, Cristiana pointed out at the time:
“With regard to the note from the defense of Mr. Álvaro Garnero, it is clear that:
1. The reported Álvaro Garnero and his defense issue a note with sexist and misogynistic characteristics when trying to link a relationship that ended three years before the date of the event and is now six years old.
2. The previous police investigations mentioned in Álvaro's note are active and should not be confused with the current criminal report, which aims to establish the existence of a criminal organization integrated by Álvaro to harm people;
3. It is very easy to make an ironic remark while skiing in the French Alps, at a time when the people harmed by Hibridos and Meu Pé de Bitcoin are largely poor and have lost all their savings.”
* Text by Lívia Carvalho
Lívia Carvalho is a journalism student and passionate about pop culture. Before joining the column team, she was a producer, presenter and reporter for TV Gazeta's Extra Edition program. Follow Lívia Carvalho on Instagram: @liviasccarvalho
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