Jessica Andrade has filed a lawsuit against her former coach and manager Gilliard Parana, accusing him of embezzling $2 million from her, which he denies, claiming she always had access to her finances.
Jessica Andrade has filed a lawsuit in the United States against former coach and manager Gilliard Parana. She accuses the leader of Parana Vale Tudo of embezzlement.
The former UFC strawweight champion began working with Parana at age 21. Their relationship, spanning from 2012 to 2024, ended with accusations of stealing $2 million.
Parana, who denied the accusations in a statement issued to MMA Fighting, returned to Brazil shortly after Andrade announced their split. He has since retired as an MMA coach and manager.
Andrade currently resides in Las Vegas. She trains with Karol Rosa, Jessica Delboni, and Denise Gomes, who also left PRVT earlier this year.
With Matheus Naccache as her new head coach, Andrade has won her past two UFC fights. She’s set to return to the cage this Saturday, Sept. 7, in a co-headlining battle against Natalia Silva at UFC Vegas 97.
“We have a lawsuit going about TransferWise and the money that was transferred to other people I’ve never seen in my life,” Andrade told MMA Fighting. “That happened when he was taking care of my finances, and I had no access to anything.”
“At one point he said, ‘Jessica, look, let me handle this for you, you don’t have to worry about any of this.’ And as always, I trusted him. He removed my access to the account.”
“He said, ‘You don’t need to look at your accounts, you’ll have a monthly salary.’ I was making good money in the beginning, but in the end I don’t know how [that money ran out].
“He said I was shopping too much on Amazon, but with the investigation and all that, [we saw that] I made $2 million and spent $10,000 on Amazon. Where did the rest of the money go?”
“It makes no sense, and it’s being investigated now. We’ll find out where every penny went.”
“I’ll just wait for now. I’m preparing for this fight [on Saturday], and as soon as it’s over, I’ll look at this lawsuit again and keep it moving.”
“The lawsuit is moving in the United States and he’s in Brazil, so I don’t know how it’s going to work,” she added. “He was quite smart; he left before things happened.”
Andrade has fought 27 times under the UFC banner since her debut as a bantamweight in 2013. Losing $2 million has changed her plans for the future.
“I could be thinking about retiring now, right?” Andrade said. “In fact, I’ll have to keep fighting to make that money again and have a normal life.”
“But it’s all good; God knows all things. Sometimes we have to go down so we can get back up better.”
“I’m ready to receive what God has for my life. God won’t ever let me give up.”
Andrade said her finances are now under control and she’s not struggling for cash. The 32-year-old Brazilian has won her past two UFC bouts.
She knocked out Mackenzie Dern and then earned a split decision over Marina Rodriguez.
“I can sleep at night knowing I’ve done good things for everybody; never did anything bad to anyone,” Andrade said.
“What he’s taken from me—that’s all he’s ever going to have because he’s lost all his athletes; he’s lost everything.”
“The only thing he still has is the gym in Curitiba, which he opened with my money. That’s all he’s going to have for the rest of his life.”
Parana denied all accusations to MMA Fighting and said his words will be proven during the investigation.
“Anyone who has a brain and knows how to do math will see that she really doesn’t spend her money on just a few purchases on Amazon,” Parana said in a statement to MMA Fighting.
“She has a lot of expenses; there are so many that she even gets lost in the calculations.”
“Jessica is not incapable. Jessica is not a 15-year-old girl. And Jessica is not illiterate.”
“Jessica was never forbidden from going to the bank or calling the bank and finding out how her accounts were.”
“Jessica always had full access to her things and was always intelligent enough to know everything that happened in her financial life.”
“And I was never the guy who took care of her financial life. I was just her advisor when she needed it and asked for it.”
“But all of this will be proven if there is a coherent investigation.”
“May justice be served and may the wrongdoer pay because lying to the authorities and lying to have a trial go your favor is also a crime.”
Let’s wait and see what happens.”
It was never like the way she’s insinuating; that I stole a single cent from her—much less the amount she’s talking about—which is completely baseless.
Anyone who has a brain and knows how to do math will see that she really doesn’t spend her money on just a few purchases on Amazon. She has a lot of expenses; there are so many that she even gets lost in the calculations.
Jessica is not incapable. Jessica is not a 15-year-old girl. And Jessica is not illiterate.
Jessica was never forbidden from going to the bank or calling the bank and finding out how her accounts were.
Jessica always had full access to her things and was always intelligent enough to know everything that happened in her financial life.
I was never the guy who took care of her financial life; I was just her advisor when she needed it and asked for it.
All of this will be proven if there is a coherent investigation.
May justice be served and may the wrongdoer pay because lying to authorities and lying to have a trial go your favor is also a crime. Let’s wait and see what happens.