Newly affiliated with União Brasil, businessman Pablo Marçal is tipped by the party to run for the position of federal deputy for São Paulo. For the idea to come to fruition, however, he needs to definitively get rid of three cases in the Electoral Court, filed after his candidacy for mayor of São Paulo, in 2024.
Two of these actions were judged valid in the first instance, are being processed in the second instance and will go to the Superior Electoral Court, one of which keeps him ineligible until 2032. The second case was reversed by the businessman, but there will be an appeal from the Public Ministry at the TSE.
Among the crimes of which he is accused are illicit collection and expenditure of resources, abuse of economic power and others linked to cases such as the “cutting competition”, denounced by Globo two years ago.
In addition to these actions, there is another in the first instance that condemned Marçal, but it still does not result in ineligibility because it was not judged by a panel, as provided for by law, which should happen by next month.
See the status of each process below.
Cutting competition
The action that currently keeps Marçal ineligible concerns the “cutting competition”, revealed by GLOBO, in which employees were encouraged to produce videos for social media of the campaign two years ago, with the promise of remuneration and the distribution of gifts.
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The demand, filed by the PSB and the Public Ministry, also found a payment made by Marçal’s wife’s makeup artist in an internet advertisement. When clicking on the link, the user was directed to the businessman’s electoral campaign website.
In December last year, the Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo (TRE-SP) ruled that the accusation of improper use of the media was valid, in addition to maintaining a fine of R$420,000 for non-compliance with a court order.
The collegiate vote at the end of last year was close, by 4 votes to 3, which is why Marçal’s defense believes in a reversal in the TSE.
– We embargoed the decision and are awaiting the results of the embargoes, because we understand that there are some nullities in the process, so the rapporteur will have to assess these nullities via embargo of declaration. He can annul the ruling, which is what we are asking for, but if it is not accepted, an appeal can be made to the TSE. And as it was a very close vote, 4 to 3, we have great hope of turning it around in the Superior Electoral Court – says lawyer Paulo Hamilton, who defends the businessman.
Support in exchange for PIX
While studying the defense in the action that keeps Marçal convicted and unable to contest elections, Hamilton is preparing for the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s appeal in the case that was reversed, in November 2025, this time in favor of his client.
Moved by Guilherme Boulos and the PSB, the demand was opened to investigate the sale of Marçal’s support to candidates for councilor in the capital of São Paulo in exchange for a donation of R$5,000 to his campaign through Pix. The measure was judged in the first instance and resulted in convictions for abuse of economic and political power, in addition to illicit fundraising and misuse of the media.
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However, in the second instance trial, rapporteur Claudio Langroiva said there was a need to consider verifying the seriousness of Marçal’s conduct.
– The illegality of the appellant’s conduct is not being denied, since the illegality of the proposal is evident – a practice that goes against morality and parity of arms –, but for the recognition of the origin of the action, in addition to the illegality, the gravity and, in the case of economic bias, the effective verification of the amount of resources actually raised through this specific practice are essential – said the rapporteur.
As the decision was endorsed by the collegiate, the action was dismissed and now the MP will file an appeal in Brasília.
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Cap and money raffles
In Marçal’s third case, the first instance of the São Paulo TRE condemned him, in July 2025, for improper use of the media, in addition to illicit collection and expenditure of resources and abuse of economic power.
The process investigates ten conducts, such as raffles of money and caps on Instagram, receipt of undue money, advertisements paid with money from foreign accounts, among other crimes.
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Now, the collegiate will vote on whether or not to maintain the conviction. If the decision is maintained, the businessman will be ineligible for the second time. However, if nothing is decided by August 15th, the deadline for registering candidacies, Marçal will not be impeded by this process.
– If there is no second instance decision at the time of registration, it means that he is not ineligible for this process. But we work for judgment before registration. We want them to judge because we are convinced of his innocence – says Paulo Hamilton.
Lawyer Arthur Rollo, specialized in electoral legislation, states that the deadlines sought by Pablo Marçal’s defense are achievable, as the Electoral Court must speed up cases like these.
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– I’m sure there’s time, as there’s a lot of time until then and the TSE will have priority to judge these cases. As he wants to run as a candidate, the TSE will not let a candidate for the Senate or Chamber leave. [sem registro]. There are precedents like these in the Superior Electoral Court itself – says Rollo.
Behind the scenes at União Brasil, the president of the party, Antonio Rueda, is seen as one of the main organizers of Marçal’s actions in the higher electoral courts. According to someone who understands party and legal mechanisms in Brasília, the chief, with good traffic in the TSE, would not “bet on a horse that he couldn’t start in the race”.
When contacted, Rueda did not respond to GLOBO.
Other actions
In addition to the processes that deal with impediments to electoral disputes, Pablo Marçal is the target of other actions in the São Paulo Electoral Court.
Last month, the businessman reached an agreement and managed to suspend one of the demands. The case refers to the propagation of a false report against the then candidate Guilherme Boulos (PSOL).
On the eve of the first round of 2024, Marçal released a false hospitalization document for drug use — the falsity of the document was confirmed by experts from the Federal and Civil Police. A few hours after publication, the Electoral Court ordered the removal of the social media publication. Marçal was placed third in that year’s electoral dispute, while Boulos went to the second round against Ricardo Nunes (MDB).
In order for the action to be stopped at the TRE, the businessman accepted the imposition of a series of restrictions, such as court appearances every three months, a ban on leaving his city without prior authorization, in addition to not being able to go to bars, nightclubs and houses of prostitution.
In the civil sphere, the false report case was judged last month. At the time, Marçal was ordered to pay compensation of R$100,000 to Boulos.
When contacted, Marçal declined to comment on the processes to which he is responding, nor on his electoral intentions.
