Jovem Pan pays R$20,000 to Flamengo for unproven accusation of money laundering

Last October, Jovem Pan paid compensation of R$20,000 and ended a lawsuit filed by Flamengo against the broadcaster. The case had been going on since 2019, and the court won the case for the Rio club.

O F5 had access to the conviction and proof of discharge, presented in court. The case was pending in the 3rd Civil Chamber of Rio de Janeiro. The amount was deposited after the red-black team’s request for execution.

At the time of the events, Flamengo’s board of directors was outraged by a speech by journalist Rodrigo Viga, a reporter for Jovem Pan in Rio de Janeiro. The accusation occurred at a time when the club returned to investing massively in football after years of saving to pay off debts.

On the program Esporte em Discussão, in May 2019, Viga stated that the club had a money laundering scheme to tarnish its accounting data, and this would allow the team to invest heavily in the sport.

“The value is never real. If they say it’s 40, it’s not 40, it’s 30. I already said that here once on the Jovem Pan microphones. They set up a fund, since the Bandeira de Mello era, which worked as follows : a parallel fund, which was not registered by the Central Bank, if you wanted to be a shareholder in this fund, you would put in R$500,000, then you would put in R$1 million, then you would put in R$1.5 million”, he said.

“Now, you put money in a fund, you wait for it to be withdrawn, you hope to have a return on that money within six months, 12 months. And this doesn’t appear in Flamengo’s accounting balance sheet. So, that’s why Flamengo’s numbers are inflated But you can be sure, I guarantee it, they never match reality”, he continued.

The action was filed by Flamengo’s legal vice-president, Rodrigo Dunshee, after the video went viral on social media and fans were outraged.

Flamengo asked for R$60,000 for moral damages to the institution, but judge Renata Silvares França, who assessed the case, determined a lower amount of R$20,000.

“Although it is recognized that it is impossible for press professionals to disclose only information whose veracity is proven, which would make journalistic activity unfeasible, the verisimilitude of the facts narrated is essential, based, at least, on demonstrable evidence”, stated the judge. “Especially when it comes to extremely serious accusations such as those that gave rise to this demand.”

Jovem Pan appealed the decision and requested a special appeal, but there was no success. As a result, there was no other alternative than to pay the amount determined for Flamengo.

The case was filed earlier this week after the completion of the payment process at the TJ-RJ (Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro).