Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Former boss of Brazilian retail giant Americanas arrested in £3.5bn fraud probe

The former boss of Brazilian retail giant Americanas, Miguel Gutierrez, was arrested on Friday in Spain accused of participating in a fraud scheme (Bruna Prado/AP)
The former boss of Brazilian retail giant Americanas, Miguel Gutierrez, was arrested on Friday in Spain accused of participating in a fraud scheme (Bruna Prado/AP)

The former chief executive of Brazilian retail giant Americanas, Miguel Gutierrez, was arrested on Friday in Madrid, accused of participating in a 25 billion reais (£3.5 billion) fraud scheme.

Brazil’s federal police added his name to Interpol’s red notice list after determining the company falsified financial results to inflate cash flow and artificially boost the company’s stock.

Former directors committed fraud by advancing payments to suppliers through loans, engaging in market manipulation, insider trading, criminal association and money laundering, according to a statement from investigators.

The probe began in January 2023 after Mr Gutierrez’s successor took over as chief executive and soon disclosed a cash shortfall of 20 billion reais (£2.85 billion).

Mr Gutierrez’s lawyer told the local press that his client has co-operated with authorities and denies any involvement in the fraud scheme.

Mr Gutierrez, who is also a Spanish citizen, joined Americanas in 1993 and held various positions, gaining the trust of stakeholders Carlos Alberto Sicupira, Marcel Telles and Jorge Paulo Lemann — a multi-billionaire and Brazil’s second richest person.

Federal prosecutors said that the company’s board has co-operated with the investigation by providing information about the fraud scheme.

Brazil’s federal government has yet to receive an extradition request for Mr Gutierrez from the court. Brazil signed an extradition treaty with Spain in 1988, stipulating that each country may refuse to extradite its own nationals. The Spanish national police neither confirmed nor denied the arrest.

On Thursday, the Brazilian Federal Police executed 15 arrest warrants and search and seizure orders for other former Americanas directors in Rio de Janeiro and seized their assets. Mr Lemann, Mr Sicupira and Mr Telles were not included in this police raid.