The 1st Court of Bankruptcy and Judicial Reorganization of the TJ-SP (São Paulo Court of Justice) this Thursday (17) revoked a previous decision of the São Paulo Justice that had determined the removal of Sidnei Piva from the command of the Itapemirim group.
According to the criminal law firm Kehdi e Vieira, which represents the businessman, the new decision took into account the need to avoid the risk of bankruptcy for the company, which is undergoing judicial recovery. There is still recourse.
Sidnei Piva was barred from running the company after a court decision, enacted at the end of February, met the criminal complaint filed by Camilo Cola Filho, heir to the company’s founder, Camilo Cola, who died last year.
In the representation, Cola Filho pointed to irregularities that would have been committed by Piva at the head of the group, harming consumers, suppliers, employees and creditors “due to poor management, mainly in the services of Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos (ITA), which sold more tickets than the actual operating capability.”
In December last year, on Christmas Eve, consumers were surprised by the suspension of ITA flights, which claimed the need to make “operational adjustments”. Since then, the company has not operated. An estimate by Procon-SP informs that the suspension caused damage to about 130 thousand passengers.
The Cola family’s lawyer, Olavo Chinaglia, told sheet that he will appeal the sentence and that the judge João de Oliveira Rodrigues Filho, responsible for the judicial recovery, “extrapolated a lot” of his functions.
“There was abuse of authority, he has no legal competence to make this reappointment”, said Chinaglia, who presented this Friday (18) a petition in the criminal investigation file, questioning the judge’s attitude.
Sidnei Piva’s history is full of controversies
Sidnei Piva has a trajectory marked by accusations of unfulfilled contracts and lawsuits.
The group has been in judicial recovery since 2016 and has tax debts of almost R$2 billion. One of the most critical problems of the company is the lack of payment of employees.
According to sheet found, at the end of 2021, at the Tietê bus station, the largest in the country, located in the capital of São Paulo, part of the team left for lack of payment.
On December 29, the MP-SP (Public Ministry of São Paulo) asked that the businessman’s assets be blocked. The request to the judge of the 1st Bankruptcy and Reorganization Court of the capital of São Paulo also included the inclusion of ITA in the judicial reorganization process, the conversion of the judicial reorganization into bankruptcy and the suspension of all auctions for the sale of Itapemirim assets.
According to Piva’s defense, there was no asset blocking and all precautionary measures were revoked. The Cola family’s defense, however, claims that there are already several judicial attachments falling on the entrepreneur’s assets.
In early January, Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) prohibited ITA from selling airline tickets again until the company demonstrates that it has fulfilled all corrective actions for those affected by the suspension of its activities, such as re-accommodation and full reimbursement of the air ticket.
report of sheet in late February, however, it pointed out that ITA passengers had not yet been reimbursed.
Also at the end of February, Itapemirim announced the “temporary” suspension of Ita Bank’s activities as of March 7, the deadline for the 2,700 customers to transfer money from their accounts. According to the company, the suspension is due to a platform change.
The launch of Ita Bank had been announced by Piva in an interview with sheet, in October. At the time, the businessman stated that the digital bank would finance ITA airline tickets in 36 installments.
On December 30th of last year, Viação Itapemirim asked ANTT (National Land Transport Agency) to stop serving 73 cities, with 16 lines, which would happen from January 27th. The 73 markets represented 15% of the total of 482 that the company is authorized to operate.
On the date scheduled for the start of the suspension, however, Viação Itapemirim requested the cancellation of the measure, informing ANTT that it had carried out “an operational readjustment”, which allowed it to continue operating the bus lines.
Died in 2021, founder of Itapemirim was a soldier in World War II
Camilo Cola, who founded the group in July 1953 in Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, Espírito Santo, was a former World War II fighter. He died in May 2021.
Cola enlisted in the Army at age 18 and was part of the FEB (Brazilian Expeditionary Force) fighter platoon, which fought in World War II in northern Italy in 1945.
When he returned from the war, he got a loan to buy a truck, which would later start Viação Itapemirim. The company even manufactured its own bus, the Tribus, with three axles, an innovation for the 1970s. The model was relaunched this year by the company.
He was elected federal deputy by the MDB in 2007, and remained in office until 2015, as a member or alternate.
Camilo Cola Filho took over the family business, but was unsuccessful. With accumulated debts, especially with the tax authorities, the Colas sold the company to Sidnei Piva.
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