Operation targets decades-old money laundering network as luxury cars and cash are seized across five cities.
 

Key Points

Police say the group moved around BR97m ($18m) through illegal gambling operations

Investigators identified long-running money laundering using shell companies and “smurfing”

Luxury vehicles, electronics and cash were seized during coordinated raids across São Paulo state
 

Brazilian police have launched a major operation against an alleged illegal gambling network.

The group was accused of moving nearly BR97m through betting activities and complex money laundering structures across São Paulo and neighbouring states.

The operation was carried out by São Paulo’s Civil Police, with 14 search and seizure warrants executed in different cities across the state, including the capital. 

Authorities seized electronic devices, betting equipment, large sums of cash and luxury vehicles believed to have been acquired with proceeds from illegal gambling. 

According to investigators, the group operated a sophisticated financial structure that had been active for decades in cities across São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

The investigation uncovered what police describe as an extensive capital laundering network. The scheme allegedly relied on a network of managers and financial operators who fragmented transactions into small amounts, a practice known as “smurfing”, to avoid detection by financial monitoring systems.

Police say the group also made heavy use of shell companies and individuals acting as frontmen to disguise the origin of funds. 
 

Intelligence reports pointed to financial activity “entirely incompatible” with the declared income of those under investigation, including more than BR25m allegedly moved by the group’s leader in a single six-month period in 2024.

Real estate transactions paid in cash and the acquisition of high-value assets in the names of third parties were also used to conceal the illicit origin of the money, according to authorities.

The operation targeted the suspected leader of the criminal organization, at least seven other individuals and a network of businesses believed to serve as the final destination for bank transfers linked to the gambling operation.

As of the latest update, no arrests had been confirmed.

Source

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