The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) has filed charges against 13 former executives and employees of Americanas, including former CEO Miguel Gutierrez, Anna Saicali, Timotheo Barros, Marcio Cruz, Carlos Padilha, João Guerra, Murilo Corrêa, Maria Christina Nascimento, Fabien Picavet, Raoni Fabiano, Luiz Augusto Saraiva Henriques, Jean Pierre Lessa e Santos Ferreira, and Anna Christina da Silva Sotero, for an alleged fraud scheme that resulted in a financial shortfall of approximately R$ 25 billion. The charges were presented to the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro, with the court now tasked with deciding whether to accept the accusations. Gutierrez is accused of leading the fraudulent activities, which involved manipulating financial statements to artificially inflate the company's profits, misleading investors and creditors. The fraud is said to have occurred between 2016 and 2022, during Gutierrez's tenure as CEO. The MPF's charges include criminal association, ideological falsehood, market manipulation, and insider trading. Evidence presented includes emails and WhatsApp messages discussing fraudulent adjustments to financial results. The accused are said to have conducted at least 28 fraudulent maneuvers to maintain high stock prices of Americanas and its digital arm, B2W. The MPF also established a minimum compensation of R$ 22.8 billion for market manipulation, with specific amounts for insider trading: R$ 158.5 million for Gutierrez, R$ 57.8 million for Saicali, R$ 20.2 million for Barros, R$ 5.6 million for Cruz, R$ 3.8 million for Guerra, R$ 1.17 million for Jean Pierre, R$ 803.7 thousand for Nascimento, R$ 1.29 million for Fabiano, and R$ 157.1 thousand for Sotero. Americanas has been in judicial recovery since the revelation of the accounting discrepancies in January 2023. The company is working on a recovery plan, which includes significant investments from creditors and investors, aiming to stabilize its financial situation by the end of 2026.