Editor and reporters from TV Record embezzled R$800,000 donated to a girl with cancer. The broadcaster says it is investigating the case internally to find out if there are more people involved in the crime.
Employees of TV Record in Bahia are being investigated for embezzling at least R$800,000 donated to a girl with cancer. The Civil Police have opened an inquiry into the case and are investigating the involvement of other people. The broadcaster, in turn, says it is collaborating to punish and find those responsible.
So far, an editor and two reporters have been identified among those involved. The three professionals embezzled money from a girl who had her drama shown on the Balanço Geral program. The case was discovered by the presenter of the attraction, José Eduardo Bocão.
The editor involved would have confessed to the crime and was fired last weekend. The complaint reached presenter Bocão through the player’s manager Anderson Talisca and the athlete himself, who donated R$70,000 in the campaign.
In a note, the Bahian Civil Police did not mention who are involved in the case, but confirmed the investigation. “The Police Station for the Repression of Embezzlement and Other Frauds (DreofCyber), with the support of the Department of Crimes Against Property (DCCP), began investigations into a fraud that employees of a television station are suspected of committing against viewers” , says the statement.
“According to the first information, the crime consists of collecting donations for people in a state of social vulnerability, but the amount was not passed on to the victims. Those responsible will be summoned to the police unit”, concludes the police.
The crime was discovered shortly after Carnival, in February this year. The story about the girl with cancer aired in September 2022. The girl’s mother made a live appeal to try to raise money for the treatment of the disease, which is costly and includes chemotherapy sessions.
In the air, however, a pix key was displayed that was not that of the woman, but that of one of those involved in the embezzlement of money. Anderson Talisca, a former Bahia player and currently with Al-Nassr, a Saudi Arabian team that has Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad, donated R$70,000.
At the end of last month, the player and his team got in touch directly with the woman who received the donations, in order to ask for a receipt, with the aim of deducting the amount donated from the Income Tax. The child’s mother revealed that she had not received any value from the broadcaster, not even from the player himself. Talisca’s team then looked for presenter José Eduardo Bocão, who passed on everything he knew to Record’s top management and demanded actions.
The executive from Salvador forwarded the case to São Paulo, which ended a quick internal investigation, with the dismissal of all those involved. The editor that was part of the scheme has now been shut down. But the reporters haven’t been released yet because they’re on vacation. Journalists must leave shortly after returning. All dismissals will be for just cause, without payment of labor rights. If convicted, those involved could face up to 5 years in prison.