Businessman owns Ultrafarma and was arrested in operation that investigates billionaire scheme
The owner and founder of Ultrafarma, Sidney Aparecido de Oliveira, 71 ,. The detention was carried out during the Icarus Operation of MPSP (São Paulo Public Prosecution Service), which investigates a corruption scheme involving Fiscal Auditors of SEFAZ-SP (Secretariat of Finance and Planning of the State of São Paulo).
MPSP’s action seeks to dismantle a criminal organization that benefited retail companies upon payment of bribes. In addition to the businessman, a high -ranking state tax auditor were arrested and the statutory director of the Fast Shop group Mario Otávio Gomes.
Sidney Oliveira was born in Nova Olímpia, in the interior of Paraná, where he grew up with 10 more brothers. He began his professional life at age 9 in a pharmacy and was literate by the Mobral (Brazilian Movement of Literacy for Youth and Adults), a program created by Paulo Freire.
Ultrafarma was founded by the businessman in 2000 and, over the years, became a reference in the sale of generic drugs in Brazil.
The company was consolidated in the market by e -commerce and strong presence in the media – uninclusive, having the founder as a striking figure and present in advertising campaigns. In 2007, the network won the “Top of Mind Internet Award” award as the 1st Pharmacy brand on the Internet.
Before creating Ultrafarma, Oliveira had set up a network with 12 pharmaceutical establishments in Paraná during the 1980s. The transformation of the business was in the year 2000, when, after an international trip, implemented in Brazil the model based on telephone and internet sales, technology that was still developing at the time.
“I remember feeling very pity and commotion watching people who could not buy medicines for lack of resources. I thought of helping my family, which was also very poor, but mostly I wanted to help people have access to treatments and thus give comfort and quality of life to these families”, Said Oliveira in an interview granted in 2018 to Infomoney.
Ultrafarma has become the largest online pharmacy in Brazil, with annual revenues close to $ 1 billion.
The operation
The details about the specific participation of each of the arrested in the scheme have not yet been released. The operation remains in progress, with agents fulfilling several search and seizure warrants at residential addresses of the targets and in the headquarters of the investigated companies.
According to MPSP, those involved will be able to respond for active and passive corruption crimes, criminal organization and money laundering.
In a note, Sefaz-SP said that “It is available to the authorities and will collaborate with the unfolding of the investigation of the Public Prosecution Service through its Corfisp (Tax Inspection Corregedoria)”.
According to the investigations of the GEDEC (Special Action Group on Repression of Economic Crimes), the scheme involved manipulation of administrative proceedings to facilitate the discharge of tax credits to participating companies.
The operation was the result of months of investigative work, including documentary analysis, secrecy breaks and interceptions authorized by the court. Prosecutors identified that the scheme would have moved about $ 1 billion in bribes since 2021.
O Poder360 He sought Ultrafarma, Fast Shop, Gedec and the MP by email to ask if he would like to speak out about Operation Icarus. There was no answer until the publication of this report. The text will be updated if a demonstration is sent to this digital newspaper.
This is the full note of Sefaz-SP
“SEFAZ-SP (Secretariat of Finance and Planning of the State of São Paulo) is available to the authorities and will collaborate with the consequences of the investigation of the Public Prosecution Service through its Corfisp (Tax Inspection Corregedoria). As a member of CIRA-SP (Interinstitutional Asset Recovery Committee) and several special investigation groups, SEFAZ-SP has been operating on several fronts and operations in combating tax evasion, money laundering and illicit against the tax order, together with the bodies that triggered operation today. In addition, SEFAZ-SP informs you that it has just been instituted administrative procedure to strictly investigate the conduct of the server involved and that it formally requested from the Public Prosecution Service of the State of São Paulo to share all information relevant to the case.
“The Treasury Administration reiterates its commitment to ethical values and fiscal justice, repudiating any act or unlawful conduct, committing to the determination of deviations eventually practiced, in the strict terms of the law, promoting a broad review of processes, protocols and standardization related to the subject”.
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