Heir to the founder of Casas Bahia opposes bringing forward inheritance to his brother

Michael Klein, responsible for the estate of his father, Samuel Klein, founder of Casas Bahia, told the court that the request for early inheritance made by his younger brother, Saul, should be denied, and that he should be convicted of bad faith litigation, when the judicial request is considered abusive.

Samuel's estate administrator was called to comment on his brother's request filed in mid-July with the 4th Civil Court of São Caetano do Sul, in the ABC region of São Paulo. Saul's lawyers stated in the request that the businessman needs to receive his share of the money early to cover medical expenses after undergoing abdominal surgery that required him to be treated in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit).

For Michael Klein, Saul and the office that manages his finances are treating the inventory as a "treasure hunt" and "Saul's alleged medical condition was used as a mere artifice to try to justify the claim for advance payments."

Saul's representatives say he needs material support and peace of mind to recover. "The critical nature of the situation, combined with the patient's advanced age (71 years old), makes the situation quite serious, resulting in high costs for surgeries, hospitalizations, medications, caregivers, health insurance, etc."

Michael's lawyers argue in the petition that Saul has health insurance (he would not need the money to pay for the hospital) and that his medical expenses and other expenses are covered by his financial administrator, lawyer Enzo Gorentzvaig, who was responsible for the businessman's hospitalization.

Michael enclosed with the lawsuit the contract signed by Gorentzvaig's company, 360 Graus, in 2022, which provides for the coverage of Saul's expenses up to R$100,000 per month. The agreement with the lawyer stipulates that the company will receive 30% of Saul's share of the inheritance, which could rise to 50% if other, not yet listed, amounts are included in the final amount.

For Michael's representatives, this compensation is the real motivation for the advance payment request. If Saul's inheritance is paid, 360 Graus will receive 30% of the amount and will no longer have to cover the heir's expenses.

Gorentzvaig says the company spends more than R$100,000 per month on Saul's maintenance. "We thought the amount we set at the beginning of our contract would be reasonable. It's nowhere near what he spends per month; it's much higher," he says.

The lawyer defends the remuneration stipulated in the contract and says he has been covering Saul's expenses for four years. "So far, I haven't earned R$1, quite the opposite. And I'm only going to earn it because of his brother's disregard for Saul, that's the truth."

360 Graus' contract with Saul Klein has already been the target of siblings Michael and Eva , who have filed a lawsuit seeking access to the agreement. They claimed that Saul had sold his inheritance rights to the company without disclosing the contents of the service agreement.

In opposing the early inheritance, Michael claims that until the contract with 360 Graus, Saul Klein insisted on the ratification of the inheritance distribution. Later, he allegedly began opposing the finalization. This argument was also presented by Michael and Eva when requesting access to Saul's contract with 360 Graus.

The company that manages Saul Klein's finances has Gorentzvaig and businessman Antônio Carlos Fazio Junior, his father-in-law, as partners. The latter, according to Gorentzvaig, met Saul when he was still running Casas Bahia. The two reportedly became friends.

"This inventory is ten, 11 years old. He [Saul] raised R$27 million in 2021, when he was already having serious liquidity problems. That money ran out a long time ago and for the past four years it has been 100% financed by me and my father-in-law," says Gorentzvaig.

This advance payment of the inheritance share is also cited by Michael's representatives in their statement to the court. They claim that Saul had another request for advance payment denied by the court. Therefore, for the executor, the request made now "would violate res judicata."

Saul was even ordered to be held in preventive detention by the São Paulo Civil Police, which began investigating him in 2020 in a case in which young people accused him of crimes such as rape, bodily harm, and transmission of a venereal disease. The request was denied by the court in 2022.

At the time, the businessman's lawyers stated that he had never committed a crime and that the indictment and arrest warrant were "discretionary acts of the police authority that do not bind the other procedural actors." Gorentzvaig says that Saul has never been convicted, is not the subject of an investigation, and that his innocence remains to be proven.

Samuel Klein's heirs have been battling in court for years, hurling accusations at each other both publicly and in court. Besides the two, another sister, Eva, is also an heir to the founder of Casas Bahia. There is also a fourth possible heir who died in 2021 , trying to prove he was Samuel's son.

The Painel SA column showed this Tuesday that Public Prosecutor Karla Bugarin requested the archiving of the case in which Saul contested the authenticity of his father's signatures on contracts involving the company and on the will, dated August 13, 2013.

Saul accused his brother of forging their father's signatures to favor him and his heirs in the division of the fortune. He claimed he was entitled to around R$3 billion, not R$500 million.