Brazilian Federal Police seized $28.8 million in crypto assets


On August 25, 2021 the Brazilian Federal
Police with the help of Federal Revenue, Operation Kryptos and GAECO/MPF dismantled
a criminal organization in the offensive charge of fraud $150 million in
cryptocurrencies.
Issued by the 3rd Federal
Criminal Court of Rio de Janerio, fulfilment of 7
preventive arrest warrants, 2 temporary arrest warrants, 15 search and
seizure warrants in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Ceara and the
Federal District, the Federal Police seized $19 million in cash with 21 luxury vehicles,
expensive watches, jewellery, foreign currencies and other documents.
Resulted from a joint investigation
between the Federal Police, the Federal Public Ministry and the Internal
Revenue Service, of the alleged
financial pyramid scheme or "ponzi schemes", arrested 5 suspects. Among them, Glaidson
Acácio is the prime suspect, owner of a bitcoin consultancy in the municipality
of Cabo Frio, in the Lakes Region of Rio de Janeiro. Glaidson was arrested in a
mansion in Barra da Tijuca, West Zone of the state capital. Besides Rio, the
arrests took place in Cabo Frio and two at Guarulhos Airport, in São Paulo by 120 federal police officers.
According to Operation Kryptos’s investigations, he is suspected of moving
billions in the alleged financial pyramid scheme, which promises a return of up
to 15% of the amount invested by clients. The company, which is answerable
for the operationalization of "ponzi schemes", headquartered in the
Region of Lagos/RJ, based on the effective public offer of an investment
contract, without prior registration with the regulatory bodies, linked to
speculation in the cryptocurrency market, with the prediction of an
unsustainable financial return on the amount invested.
Over the past 6 years, the financial
transactions of the companies involved in the frauds had billions of dollars, with
approximately 50% of these transactions occurring in the last 12 months
(approx. $28.8M). The investigated may respond, to the extent of their
responsibilities, for the crimes of fraudulent scheme, reckless management undercover
financial institution, illegal issuance of securities without prior
registration, criminal organization and money laundering, and, if convicted,
may serve a sentence of up to 26 years of seclusion.
On August 26, in a press release on Glaidson Acácio’s ongoing custody
hearing, his defense said that they are “aware of the arrest and so far without
access to the contents of the investigations. Only after proper analysis of all
documentation will we be able to express ourselves in a concrete manner.”

Joyashree Dey
CBW - External Analyst
INDIA