01/13/2024 – 22:30
Former banker Edemar Cid Ferreira, founder of Banco Santos, which had its bankruptcy declared in 2005, died this Saturday, the 13th, at the age of 80. The economist, who was once one of the richest businessmen in Brazil and was known for his extensive art collection, he was arrested twice and, in recent years, lived in a rented apartment after being evicted from his famous mansion in Morumbi.
Two sources close to Edemar told the Estadão that the probable cause of the former banker's death was a heart attack, which occurred on Saturday afternoon.
Edemar Cid Ferreira has been in the headlines of the Brazilian news for the last two decades after Banco Santos was liquidated.
He was accused of financial crimes, money laundering and criminal association.
As shown by the Estadão in May 2023, the businessman had lived for the last few years in a rented apartment, measuring around 300 square meters, in the capital of São Paulo.
At the time, the former banker reported living a spartan life, no longer having any physical assets to his name and living off the help of his three children.
He moved into the apartment after being evicted from an old mansion overlooking the Jóquei Clube, in Morumbi, in 2011.
The residence with 4,500 m² of built area was an architectural project by Ruy Ohtake and included details such as two swimming pools – one indoor and one outdoors –, a cellar for five thousand bottles of wine and two libraries.
Since 2020, the property has belonged to businessman Janguiê Diniz, founder of the Ser Educacional group, after being sold at auction for R$27.5 million.
In May 2023, it was announced that the property owner hired an architectural firm to study the feasibility of building a luxury housing development.
Banco Santos bankruptcy
In 2004, the Central Bank decreed financial intervention for Banco Santos and removed Edemar Cid Ferreira from controlling the institution. The R$2.1 billion hole in the institution's cash flow led the monetary authority to subsequently decree the liquidation of Banco Santos, then the 21st largest bank in the country. Evidence was also found at the bank of crimes against the financial system.
The bankruptcy of Banco Santos was declared in 2005, along with the freezing of the assets of Cid Ferreira and other former directors of the institution.
The bank's former controller was arrested on two occasions. In the longest period, in 2006, he was detained for three months in the Tremembé maximum security prison, in the interior of São Paulo.
Regarding the period in prison, the banker says that he “took it completely”, because, according to him, “he knew that the truth would come out”. “The feeling of being trapped was something very crazy, but I was sure it was right and I would be released,” he told Estadão in 2023.
In 2015, the Federal Court annulled the interrogation phase, and the sentence against Edemar for fraudulent management at Banco Santos was also annulled.
The judges in the case decided that the interrogation phase should be redone. In the same year, the São Paulo Court ordered that his mansion be auctioned for a minimum value of R$116.5 million – it, however, was only sold in 2020 for a fraction of the figure: R$27.5 million.
art collector
Edemar Cid Ferreira, in addition to being the president of Banco Santos, was known for his notable art collection, which included works by renowned artists and was considered one of the largest in Latin America. Works such as sculptures by Victor Brecheret and paintings by Tarsila do Amaral and Jean-Michel Basquiat were part of the collection of more than 1,500 pieces.
After the financial scandals, the works that he owned were sent to auction, intended to raise resources for the bankrupt estate of the financial institution to pay its creditors.
In September 2020, he even requested the cancellation of the auction of part of his collection, justifying that vintage series of classic photographs (Man Ray and others), for example, could not be dismembered so as not to devalue the set – an argument previously used by MAC photography curator, Helouise Costa.
Until October of the same year, the total brought in with paintings, sculptures, photographs and sketches by famous artists reached R$151 million.
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