Federal Police Investigate Criminal Organization Illegally Trading Over R$1 Billion

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Police (PF) and the Federal Revenue Service launched on Tuesday, September 3rd, Operation Harpia to investigate crimes of currency evasion, or money laundering practiced by a criminal organization.

According to the Federal Police, the investigations also try to identify the origin and volume of illicit currency exchanges, which reached more than R$1 billion (US$250 million) between the years 2015 and 2019.

Investigations began in 2018, when a network of so-called “doleiros” (currency brokers) operating in the cities of Porto Alegre, Santana do Livramento, in Rio Grande do Sul; Rivera, in Uruguay; and Ciudad del Este, in Paraguay, was found to exist.

Investigators identified that this criminal group carried out unauthorized exchange transactions, known as cable dollars, facilitating the laundering of money from criminal activities in Brazil and abroad, even involving logging companies in Brazil’s North.

Federal police officers and IRS officials carried out 11 arrest warrants and 16 search and seizure warrants at the addresses of those investigated in the municipalities of Porto Alegre, Novo Hamburgo, Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul, and in Ariquemes in Rondônia.

The name of the operation, Harpia, refers to one of the largest birds of prey in the world, present in much of Brazil, especially in the Amazon.