The São Paulo Court ordered the release of former tax auditor Artur Gomes da Silva Neto, one of the defendants in Operation Ícaro, which investigates an alleged scheme of fraudulent approval of ICMS credits at the São Paulo State Department of Finance and Planning (Sefaz-SP). The decision was signed by judge Thiago Baldani Gomes de Filippo, from the 1st Court of Tax Crimes, Criminal Organization and Laundering of Goods and Valuables in the capital.
Although he maintained the understanding that there is evidence of Artur’s participation as a “central articulator” of a criminal organization that would have generated more than R$1 billion, the magistrate concluded that preventive detention was no longer necessary and ordered its replacement with precautionary measures.
Artur was arrested in August 2025 during Operation Ícaro, launched by the Public Ministry of São Paulo. The investigation also led to the arrest of businesspeople, including the founder of the Ultrafarma pharmacy chain, Sidney Oliveira, and executives from Fast Shop, identified as beneficiaries of the alleged scheme.
In the decision, the judge stated that the revocation of the prison is based, among other factors, on the principle of procedural equality. According to him, Artur’s legal-criminal situation is similar to that of other people under investigation who have already had their arrests revoked or replaced by precautionary measures.
The judge highlighted that Artur and his mother, Kimio Mizukami da Silva, were charged by the Public Ministry for 46 alleged crimes of passive corruption and 46 of money laundering. The remaining defendants are only responsible for passive corruption.
When analyzing the case, the judge noted that auditor Marcelo de Almeida Gouveia obtained the replacement of preventive detention with precautionary measures by decision of the São Paulo Court of Justice. He also cited the case of businessman Celso Eder Gonzaga de Araújo, whose prison was converted into a house arrest by order of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
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According to the decision, there are no substantial differences between the conduct attributed to Arthur and that of the other co-defendants in relation to the corruption crimes investigated. The judge also highlighted that the former auditor is technically primary and had been in pre-trial detention for around ten months.
Despite mentioning a delay in presenting the response to the accusation by the defense, the judge considered that the period of precautionary detention had already been extended and that the maintenance of the extreme measure was no longer necessary.
With the revocation of the prison, Arthur will have to comply with a series of precautionary measures. Among them are the maintenance of the suspension of the exercise of public functions and the prohibition of access to the Treasury Department, tax offices and tax systems.
He is also prohibited from maintaining contact, directly or indirectly, including through third parties, with other tax agents investigated in the case. Furthermore, you will not be able to leave the region without judicial authorization, you must hand over your passport within 24 hours and you will be prevented from obtaining a new travel document without authorization from the Court.
The decision also determines nighttime home confinement, from 10pm to 6am, and during weekends, in addition to the use of electronic ankle bracelets. Monitoring will be the responsibility of the Criminal Police, linked to the Penitentiary Administration Secretariat, which must carry out biweekly inspections without prior notice.
The judge warned that failure to comply with any of the measures could result in the ordering of a new preventive detention.
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In a statement, lawyer Júlio César De Nigris Boccalini, who represents Artur, stated that the defense received the decision “with serenity, balance and confidence in the performance of the institutions”.
“After 294 days of precautionary custody, Artur will be able to respond to the process in freedom, strictly complying with court orders and waiting for the facts to be examined under the adversarial process, in light of due legal process and procedural truth,” he said.
According to the defender, the former auditor will remain at the disposal of the Court and will continue to collaborate with the progress of the process.
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How the scheme worked
The entire tax fraud scheme between large retailers and the then auditor Artur Gomes da Silva was revealed during Operation Ícaro in August last year. Businessman Sidney Oliveira, owner of the Ultrafarma pharmacy chain, as well as Mário Otávio Gomes, member of the Fast Shop board, were arrested after identifying a large volume of communications between retailers and operators of the scheme, which also involved the 28 Post Network.
According to investigations, the inspector manipulated administrative processes to facilitate the settlement of tax credits to companies. In return, he received monthly bribe payments through a company registered in the name of his mother, Kimio Mizukami da Silva, a 73-year-old retired teacher. It was found that the inspector had already received, at the time of the operation, more than R$1 billion in bribes.
Kimio appears as a formal partner of Smart Tax Consultoria e Auditoria Tributária Ltda., which, according to Gedec, would function as a shell company to receive billion-dollar bribes. Based on the “absurd” growth in the retiree’s assets, the Public Ministry identified a structured mechanism to favor companies in the retail sector in exchange for undue tax advantages.
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In 2021, Kimio’s income tax declaration recorded R$411 thousand. The following year, the value rose to R$46 million. In 2023, it reached R$2 billion. This increase in assets would have been due to the purchase of cryptocurrencies, according to a statement submitted to the Federal Revenue Service. The MP found that these assets would have been acquired through amounts received from Smart Tax.
Agreements and new investigations
About a month after the scandal, Fast Shop management reached a non-criminal prosecution agreement worth R$100 million. According to the MP, Fast Shop transferred R$422.7 million to Smart Tax between December 2021 and July 2025. After the agreement, two partners and the statutory director of Fast Shop, Mário Otávio Gomes, were freed from the consequences.
In exchange for the bribe, the retailer fraudulently obtained around R$1.59 billion in ICMS reimbursement credits. These credits were then sold to large companies, which used them to offset the payment of their own taxes.
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At the time, the Public Ministry clarified that the amount of R$100 million is a criminal pecuniary benefit and does not depend on the payment of any tax debts, which will be charged separately. As part of the agreement, those investigated also committed to implementing a rigorous compliance program at the company.
Rede 28 reached an agreement worth R$4.8 million to resolve its participation in Operation Ícaro after confessing to having transferred R$6.6 million in bribes to the company Smart Tax. Along with the agreement, the agency denounced seven other people accused of participating in fraud for money laundering and passive corruption.
The owner of the gas station chain, Paulo César Gaieski, also signed a non-criminal prosecution agreement and freed himself from the implications. The other defendants, including Artur Neto, were denounced by the MP in September. Last month, the court accepted the prosecutors’ notes and upheld the complaint.
In recent weeks, Gedec opened five new criminal investigation procedures (PIC) against some of the companies mentioned in the scheme: Ultrafarma, Fast Shop, Grupo Nós (Oxxo), Kalunga and Autostar. Although the first two have signed agreements with the Prosecutor’s Office, the entire criminal chain involving other actors will be the subject of specific investigation.
Other side
In a statement, Fast Shop informed that it “will continue to collaborate with the authorities in all investigations, as it has done since the beginning”. Grupo Nós, controller of the Oxxo network in Brazil, reaffirmed its “permanent commitment to complying with Brazilian tax legislation and to the evaluation of services and suppliers within the limits of the law”.
“In internal investigations, Grupo Nós did not identify any commercial relationship with Smart Tax. To ensure independence and rigor, the company hired a law firm specializing in compliance and internal investigations to conduct an independent investigation, under the supervision of its external auditors. Once this robust independent investigation was completed, no illegalities were identified.
Furthermore, the company informs that it was not formally notified about the investigation and that, since the operations related to Smart Tax, it has remained available to the competent authorities to, if necessary, provide clarifications and collaborate in accordance with applicable legislation”, says the note from Grupo Nós.
Automob reported that the company became aware of the existence of investigations related to one of its companies, acquired in April 2022, and that “it is providing all information to the authorities related to the period under analysis”.
“In reference to the period that comprises the current administration, it should be clarified that there are no records of tax credit benefits from the State of São Paulo, and all operational and tax processes are in absolute compliance with legislation and regulatory compliance”, says the note.
Searched for by GloboUltrafarma and Kalunga did not respond to the request for positioning. Artur Gomes da Silva Neto’s defense also did not send a note until the conclusion of this report.
