Federal Police Target ex-President Collor for R$6 Million Laundering Scheme

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Police (PF) triggered Operation Arremate on the morning of Friday, October 11th, to investigate a money laundering scheme involving real estate purchases at public auctions.

The action investigates the alleged involvement of Senator and former President Fernando Collor in the bidding for property, totaling R$6 million, according to the Federal Police.

Some 70 federal police officers served 16 search and seizure warrants at addresses linked to the senator in Maceió (AL) and Curitiba (PR). The orders were authorized by Justice Edson Fachin, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

The crimes are alleged to have involved the purchase of real estate at public auctions in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016. The auction is a legal procedure by which a debtor’s assets are sold so that, with the proceeds of the sale, a creditor and the costs of a debt enforcement proceeding may be settled.

The police state that the senator used a middleman to conceal his identification as the final beneficiary of the transactions.

“The purchases were used to conceal and disguise the use of resources of illicit source, as well as to enable the concealment of assets and convert them into lawful assets,” says the Federal Police.

In the set of illegal actions under investigation are the crimes of money laundering, active corruption, passive corruption, embezzlement and forgery, in addition to involvement in a criminal organization.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo