File image by José Antonio Cremasco Reproduction/EPTV Lawyer José Antonio Cremasco, accused of failing to transfer money from won lawsuits to clients, failed to meet payment deadlines for an alleged victim three times. The situation was reported and led to the opening of an investigation in the 17th Panel of the Ethics and Disciplinary Court of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB). The disciplinary process, which also involves the defender's daughter, Thais Proença Cremasco, investigates whether the case qualifies as misappropriation and is monitored by the Public Ministry of the State of São Paulo (MP-SP) for possible criminal developments. According to a permit obtained from the Court and presented to the Civil Police, the alleged victim would have to receive R$416,000 — including legal fees — due to a case won against a company. This amount, however, would not have been transferred after charges to the Cremasco office, in Campinas (SP). Therefore, a police report was registered and the complaint forwarded to the OAB. In the disciplinary process, José Antonio pointed out an error on the part of the court when transferring the R$416,000 and stated that the amount to which the victim is entitled would be R$165,800. However, the complainant says she did not receive even the amount claimed by the lawyer. To g1, José Antonio stated that he will not comment on details of the case or the procedural documents. He also stated that he never intended to keep money from customers and that the delays or pending issues occurred due to specific situations, which, according to him, will be clarified. Negotiation attempts First deadline signed between alleged victim and José Antonio Cremasco Reproduction/TJ The permit obtained by the alleged victim states that the transfer of R$490,000 was made on March 14, 2024 to an account related to the Cremasco office. From then on, negotiations began to transfer the R$416,000 to which the complainant was entitled. The alleged victim presented to the police screenshots of messages exchanged with the lawyer in which charges were made. In the conversations, there are two deadlines informed for payment: The first ended on August 16, 2024, after an agreement reached in a virtual meeting on August 7, 2024. This deadline was missed. José Antonio claimed that there was a deviation in the office and set a new deadline. The second deadline ended on September 20, 2024. José Antonio went so far as to say that "if it were up to me alone, you can be sure that I would have resolved it by now" and no longer responded to messages. According to the deadline agreed between the alleged victim and José Antonio Cremasco Reproduction/TJ Without answers, the alleged victim registered a police report and forwarded the case to the OAB. In the disciplinary process of the legal body, the suspect contested the amount owed of R$416 thousand and pointed out that the transfer should be R$165.8 thousand. Afterwards, he stated that "the date of 01/20/2025 can be set to resolve this pending issue". This was the third deadline. Third deadline promised by José Antonio Cremasco Reproduction/TJ On March 24, 2025, the complainant's defense informed the OAB that "unsurprisingly, the party [José Antonio] again failed to comply with the date indicated as resolving the pending issue". Conviction Lawyers are convicted after failing to pass on R$239,000 from the lawsuit won to their client The Cremasco office, José Antonio and Thais were ordered to pay R$239,551.93 to a client who did not receive the amount won in a 2014 labor lawsuit. The decision, which was published on Friday (3), can be appealed. ?? Understand: according to the decision, a worker won a lawsuit, but did not receive compensation. After discovering that the amount had already been raised by the office and receiving no response from the lawyers, he went to court, which ordered the Cremascos to return the amount. In the decision, the Court ordered the two lawyers and the firm to pay the amount of labor compensation to which the client is entitled, in addition to R$20,000 for moral damages. The Civil Police are also investigating other cases. In an interview with EPTV, a TV Globo affiliate, Thais held José Antonio, whose daughter she is, responsible for the alleged appropriations. José Antonio stated, in a note, that his daughter was the one who managed the accounts during the period in which the problems occurred. What Thais Thais Proença says Cremasco Reproduction/EPTV She denies having appropriated the amounts and states that, in the case of the conviction and in other similar cases, the money was not deposited into her account, saying that she found out about the problem through her own clients. She maintains that the contracts were with her father's office, José Antonio Cremasco, and that she has no longer worked at the office since 2024, after breaking off relations due to customer complaints. It states that José Antonio was the one who determined the account to which the amounts from the processes should be sent. According to her, the team's lawyers transferred the funds to the account indicated by him, and it was solely up to the father to transfer them to the clients. She says that, when clients complained about lack of payment, she took the questions to her father, who replied that "it's my process, the client is mine, pass the client on to me and I'll resolve it". She states that she never imagined that her father could be appropriating clients' money, stating: "I never, as a lawyer, as a daughter, imagined that he could be appropriating clients' money." It states that, before the breakup of the relationship in 2024, José Antonio would have signed a document acknowledging responsibility for debts owed to clients. He says that, although it is "very difficult to recognize this as a daughter", he considers it "very clear" that José Antonio committed misappropriation. She also states that the relationship of trust with her father caused her to sign blank documents and lend her name, believing that he would never commit this type of conduct. In her words, this confidence led her to believe that he "would never be capable of committing all these atrocities". Finally, he informs that he made himself available to help the alleged victims, proposing to request the attachment of legal fees from future lawsuits by the office to compensate clients. What José Antonio says José Antonio Cremasco Disclosure He attributes responsibility for the alleged appropriations to his daughter, Thais Proença Cremasco, stating that, between 2022 and 2024, she "held full management of both the current account of my business account and her own". He says that, even without having the financial management of the office during this period, he has been forwarding and paying for client processes, including in situations where the amounts were not deposited into his business account or made available to him. It states that Thais has no longer been linked to Advocacia Cremasco since November 2024 and that there is a judicial accountability process relating to the period in which she allegedly managed the finances. He maintains that there is no news of clients who stopped receiving amounts in processes prior to 2022 or after 2025, restricting the problems to the period in which he attributes financial management to his daughter. He informs that, in August 2025, he hired a professional specialized in office administration, without a personal relationship with him, to financially organize the receipts and avoid new problems. He states that the Judiciary continues to issue withdrawal permits in Thais' name, although, according to him, the special power of attorney for receipt was revoked when she left the office, in November 2024. Finally, he recognizes responsibility for the name of the office and says that it is available to all clients. It says it is paying customers in arrears as it receives new amounts. Understand the case that led to the conviction According to the decision of judge Felipe Guinsani, of the 7th Civil Court of Campinas, a man hired the Cremasco office to defend him in a labor action that was processed in the 10th Labor Court of Campinas. The worker won the case, worth R$319,402.58. Under the contract, 25% would remain with the firm as legal fees, while R$239,551.93 would be passed on to the client. According to the decision, the man discovered, through a court order, that the payment had already been made to an account related to the office. After notifying the lawyers extrajudicially and receiving no response, he filed a lawsuit to receive the amount. In the sentence, the judge understood that the lawyers raised the values ??of the labor claim and failed to pass them on to the client, retaining an amount greater than that stipulated in the contract. In addition to this case, the Public Security Secretariat reported that the Civil Police is investigating other alleged cases of appropriation of funds intended for workers in processes under the responsibility of the same office and the same lawyers. There are at least nine investigations, one of which was opened in 2025 following a complaint sent by the Public Ministry of the State of São Paulo. Thais and José Antonio Cremasco were ordered to pay the worker Reproduction/EPTV/Disclosure VIDEOS: everything about Campinas and the region See more news about the region on g1 Campinas