Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s Justice Ministry will begin probing allegations that executives of Cia de Bebidas das Americas, Latin America’s largest brewer, concealed evidence of anticompetitive practices from authorities, an official said.

The ministry will follow a recommendation from Cade, as the country’s antitrust agency is known, and open an investigation of Ambev’s executives, Mariana Tavares, the ministry’s antitrust division chief said in an interview. The probe, which could result in civil charges against the executives, comes after Cade imposed a record 353 million reais ($187.9 million) fine on Ambev last month.

“We’ll follow the recommendation made by Cade,” Tavares said. “We’ll start a preliminary process against Ambev’s executives.”

The probe will begin as soon as the documents from Cade arrive at the ministry, which may take place as early as this week, Tavares said. The names of the executives won’t be disclosed for now, Cade member Fernando de Magalhaes Furlan, who oversaw the investigation of Ambev, said in an e-mail.

AmBev is the Sao Paulo-based unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV. Its brands include Antarctica, Bohemia and Brahma beers.

“Documents copied during a raid in Ambev’s headquarters show that there is evidence against its administrators,” Furlan said. “There’s especially evidence related to actions they took to cover their true market practices from competition officials.”

Probe Recommendation

Cade recommended the investigation of “persons directly or indirectly involved and responsible for the infringement,” Furlan said.

Ambev wasn’t notified of the ministry’s decision and is unsurprised that an investigation of its executives will be opened based on previous Cade statements, said Alexandre Loures, the company’s spokesman. In regulatory filing on July 22, the company denied any wrongdoing in connection with its marketing practices.

“The Justice Ministry is simply doing what was determined by Cade a month ago and broadly published then,” Loures said. “There isn’t any change in the process up until today.”

Under Brazilian law, the antitrust division of the Justice Ministry has discretion on whether to open an investigation based on the evidence forwarded by Cade, regardless of the agency’s recommendation, a ministry spokesman said in a phone interview.

Brazil’s antitrust agency levied its fine against Ambev on July 22 for limiting competition by discouraging retailers from stocking other brands. The amount of the fine represents 2 percent of the company’s revenue in 2003, the year before the anticompetitive measures began.

AmBev hurt competition by restricting retailers from carrying other brands and rewarding them with gifts, perks and discounts, Cade ruled. Retailers were required to keep 90 percent of their inventory in AmBev products, Furlan said July 22.

The company said in an Aug. 13 statement it will appeal the fine and hasn’t accounted for it in interim financial statements because it believes it will prevail in court challenges.

To contact the reporters on this story: Iuri Dantas in Brasilia at idantas@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 28, 2009 14:41 EDT