By Brazil Stock Guide – Ambipar Participações e Empreendimentos SA (AMBP3) — the Brazilian environmental-services company — has filed a criminal complaint against its former chief financial and investor relations officer, João Arruda, after an internal probe found evidence of fraud and manipulation of sensitive information.
The move comes as the company faces mounting financial strain that could lead to a bankruptcy protection filing in Brazil and the U.S., and marks an effort by management to pin responsibility for alleged misconduct that deepened its crisis.
The investigation found that Arruda altered and concealed key clauses in derivative contracts with Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), failing to disclose amendments and financial impacts to the board and controlling shareholders. According to company documents, those changes turned what should have been currency-hedging instruments into loss-amplifying positions, worsening Ambipar’s cash burn and weakening its liquidity.
The company formally accuses its ex-executive of fraud, mismanagement, and embezzlement. The police inquiry, opened in São Paulo, already contains what Ambipar’s legal team calls “substantial evidence.” A person close to the company’s leadership said Ambipar “was the victim of deliberate actions that breached good faith and corporate governance, with direct impact on its financial stability.”
Crisis Management and Survival Strategy
Despite total debt estimated at up to R$15 billion ($2.6 billion), Ambipar (AMBP3) is trying to keep operations running and maintain its environmental-response services to large industrial clients in Brazil and abroad. The group, led by CEO Tercio Borlenghi Junior, is working on a restructuring plan that could include a judicial-recovery filing covering both local and international creditors.
Executives see the criminal investigation as a crucial step toward restoring market trust after a sharp deterioration in its balance sheet and bond prices. “All necessary measures are being taken to identify liabilities and rebuild transparency,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Former CFO’s Defense and Regulatory Battle
Arruda denies wrongdoing and argues that the transactions were approved by other statutory directors, claiming the CEO was aware of them. He has also filed a complaint with Brazil’s securities regulator CVM to present his version of events.
Ambipar, however, maintains that internal evidence shows the contractual changes were intentionally hidden from controlling shareholders — a breach of governance protocols that led to billion-real losses and endangered the entire corporate structure. The outcome of both the police inquiry and the CVM probe could determine whether the company survives its deepest credibility and liquidity crisis to date.
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