(Reuters) – Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Friday night in an interview with CNN Brasil that the case of Americanas, involved in a multibillion-dollar accounting fraud, is affecting banks, the Central Bank itself and “is affecting everything.” ”.
Haddad said that he is “most interested” in knowing what really happened in Americanas and pointed out that the case may, eventually, give rise to tougher regulation in Brazil.
The minister also said that, for him, there is no doubt that there was fraud and qualified the suspicions as “legitimate”. Haddad pointed out that the authorities will determine the extent of the responsibilities.
Americanas disclosed at the beginning of the year accounting inconsistencies of at least 20 billion reais, which pressured the company to file for judicial recovery under the weight of more than 40 billion reais in debt.
(By Fabrício de Castro)