Brazilian police have confiscated cryptoassets worth $45,000 in a major raid on a protection racket ring that appears to have targeted businesspeople in the south of the country.
The Portuguese-language media outlet Livecoins reported that officers served multiple warrants in several cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Police think that the gang’s ringleaders are all prisoners, and that the entire racket was orchestrated from Brazilian jails.
Protection Racket: Suspects ‘Used Crypto to Launder Funds’
The raids come as part of a wider crackdown named Operation Timeo. The state’s Polícia Civil (PCRS) officers have said they seized tokens from crypto wallets and blocked suspects’ bank accounts.
The PCRS said that the suspects launched a fraud network to blackmail the owners of small automobile trading garages.
Officers added that the suspects also operated a “money laundering scheme.” This scheme reportedly used crypto to process the money they made from their fraud operations.
The PCRS added that one suspect has also been charged with carrying a firearm without a permit.
Suspects ‘Targeted Auto Traders in Several Cities’
A police spokesperson confirmed that officers had seized coins from multiple wallets in “several cities.”
The PCRS probe saw a total of 60 agents execute 11 search and seizure warrants against suspects in the cities of Porto Alegre, Novo Hamburgo, São Leopoldo, Portão, Cachoeirinha, and Imbé.
The São Leopoldo organized crime-fighting department orchestrated the operation. The PCRS said it also froze a total of 13.3 million reais ($2.3 million) in bank accounts belonging to 11 suspects.
The police did not disclose the methods they used to seize the crypto. Nor did they reveal the type of coins the suspects used.
Officers think that the gang targeted auto garage owners in Estância Velha, Novo Hamburgo, Ivoti, Sapiranga, and Portão.
The garages in question were owned by individuals who trade and repair second-hand vehicles.
The ringleaders allegedly sent individuals to order the business owners to hand over money “to avoid attacks on their businesses.”
Operation Timeo: Ongoing Investigation
Officers said they were investigating 10 suspects and one company. All of these parties, police said, “have links to inmates who had already been preventively arrested” during previous phases of Operation Timeo.
Investigations are ongoing, the PCRS said. A spokesperson said further investigations “may reveal a broader criminal network” involving extortion and money laundering.
Police think the group and other criminals are using crypto and shell companies to launder millions of USD worth of funds extorted from law-abiding citizens in protection racket schemes.
Earlier this month, the nation’s Superior Court granted judges the authority to seize crypto holdings from individuals in cases involving financial defaults.
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