BRAZIL · CORRUPTION
Key Facts
- The country Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, where states such as São Paulo run their own tax offices and civil service rules.
- What happened On Wednesday 14 October, São Paulo’s official gazette published the revocation of retired tax auditor Alberto Toshio Murakami’s state pension.
- Who decided Samuel Kinoshita, São Paulo’s secretary of finance and planning, signed the order on Tuesday 13 October.
- The legal basis São Paulo’s 1968 civil service law, which allows a pension to be revoked for serious misconduct committed while in service.
- Legal status The penalty is administrative, and he has not been convicted of any crime.
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 75.0 points (October 2026 edition).
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São Paulo, Brazil’s richest state, has revoked the pension of retired tax auditor Alberto Toshio Murakami over serious misconduct in office. The newspaper Estadão reports that he is a fugitive in Tennessee, wanted at home in a bribery case linked to the state tax office.
Finance and Planning Secretary Samuel Kinoshita signed the order on Tuesday 13 October, and it appeared in the official gazette on Wednesday 14 October. The case shows how a fugitive wanted in Brazil can settle in a US town while his home state cuts him off.
What São Paulo Decided
The order finds that the fugitive auditor committed serious irregular conduct while still in service, an offence punishable by dismissal. Under São Paulo’s 1968 civil service law, the matching penalty for a retired employee is the loss of his pension.
Kinoshita followed the final report of a special disciplinary commission, an opinion from tax internal affairs and one from the department’s legal counsel. Murakami had been retired since January 2025 and kept receiving his monthly payments, which will now stop, Estadão reported.
Estadão, one of Brazil’s oldest daily newspapers, said it asked his defence for comment and left space open for a reply. The order names two São Paulo lawyers acting for him, Marcos Montemor and Djalma Moreira Gomes.
The Queue-Jumping Scheme Behind the Case
According to Estadão, Murakami is one of the targets of Operation Icarus, which São Paulo state prosecutors launched in August 2025. The probe exposed an alleged queue-jumping scheme inside the Clóvis Ribeiro Palace, the headquarters of the state Finance Department.
Inspectors allegedly took payments from big retailers to speed up refunds of credits under the state sales tax, known as ICMS. Under a regime called tax substitution, that tax is collected up front for a whole supply chain, and companies can later claim back overpayments.
Prosecutors say the mastermind was auditor Artur Gomes da Silva Neto, who was arrested in the case. They put the scheme at about R$1 billion (about US$199 million), according to Estadão and the news site g1.
Estadão reported that prosecutors describe Murakami as linked to Artur and as an operator of the scheme. The affair has reached the top of the department, where prosecutors charged its former number three in September.
The Bribery Charges Against Him
In a single criminal case, Murakami is charged 46 times under Article 317 of Brazil’s Penal Code, which covers officials taking bribes, Estadão reported. Prosecutors say the owner of a chain of fuel stations paid him R$6.6 million (about US$1.3 million) in 46 instalments.
In return, the businessman allegedly obtained fast and overstated refunds of tax-substitution credits. Dollar figures in this article use about 5.04 reais to the US dollar on 15 October 2026.
In court filings cited by Estadão, his defence argues that his conduct does not make him a protagonist of the alleged offences. It also describes him as a first-time defendant with a clean record, a home in both countries, two daughters and grandchildren.
The fugitive auditor has not been convicted, and under Brazilian law he is presumed innocent until a final ruling. The pension penalty came from a separate administrative process inside the Finance Department.
A Fugitive in Tennessee
Estadão reported that the fugitive auditor faces a preventive arrest warrant in Brazil and that his name is on Interpol’s red notice list. A red notice asks police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, but it is not an arrest warrant.
According to the newspaper, he lives in a 1,000-square-meter mansion in Clarksville, Tennessee, valued at R$7 million (about US$1.4 million). Through his lawyers, he said he does not intend to return because he had planned a retirement abroad before his arrest was ordered.
His defence says his wife is chief executive of an American company that imports marble. It argued that a defendant with a family settled abroad cannot be forced to move back to Brazil just because he faces a criminal case.
Why the Judge Kept the Arrest Order
In February, a judge at São Paulo’s 1st Court for Tax Crimes, Organized Crime and Money Laundering refused to lift the arrest order. Living outside Brazil is an objective factor that weakens the effectiveness of Brazilian criminal justice, the judge wrote, as quoted by Estadão.
Enforcing any sentence would require international legal cooperation, which the judge called complex, slow and dependent on sovereign decisions of the country asked to help. A foreign address is no real guarantee that a defendant will submit to the case, the judge added.
What It Means for You
For US readers, the case shows how a fugitive from Brazilian justice can settle in an American town beyond the reach of its police. Any return would depend on US authorities and courts, through extradition or another form of legal cooperation.
For companies doing business in Brazil, the affair shows the risks around state tax-credit refunds, a routine process for retailers and wholesalers. The Operation Icarus cases are still moving through São Paulo’s courts and the Finance Department’s disciplinary system.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether Brazil has asked Washington to extradite the fugitive or whether US authorities have acted on the red notice. His defence has not said publicly whether it will challenge the pension decision in court.
The fuel-station owner accused of paying the bribes has not been named. No trial date for the corruption charges has been reported.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Alberto Toshio Murakami?
He is a retired São Paulo state tax auditor whose pension the state revoked in an order published on 14 October. Estadão reports that he faces 46 corruption counts in the Operation Icarus affair and lives in Tennessee.
Why can’t Brazil simply bring the fugitive back?
Brazilian police have no power to arrest anyone on American soil. Bringing him back would require cooperation from the United States, which a São Paulo judge called complex and slow.
What does losing his pension mean?
The revocation stops the monthly payments he had received as a retired state auditor, which Estadão says began in January 2025. It is an administrative penalty, separate from the criminal case against him.
What is an Interpol red notice?
It is a request to police around the world to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted person pending extradition. It is not an international arrest warrant.
Sources: Diário Oficial do Estado de São Paulo, Despacho do Secretário da Fazenda e Planejamento de 13-10-2026 (cassação de aposentadoria, Alberto Toshio Murakami), 14 October 2026; Estadão (Blog do Fausto Macedo), Secretário da Fazenda SP cassa aposentadoria de fiscal foragido nos EUA por 46 atos de corrupção, 14 October 2026; g1, O que se sabe sobre a operação que revelou fraude bilionária no ICMS dentro da Fazenda de SP, 27 March 2026; Agência Brasil, MPSP faz operação para aprofundar investigações da Operação Ícaro, September 2026; Assembleia Legislativa de São Paulo, Lei nº 10.261 de 28 de outubro de 1968 (Estatuto dos Funcionários Públicos Civis), accessed 15 October 2026; Interpol, Red Notices, accessed 15 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief