SP police officer arrested in PF action against bribery scheme and illegal raffles

The Federal Police’s Integrated Force to Combat Organized Crime (FICCO) launched Operation Latus Actio II this Thursday (12), which arrested an investigator, searched the homes of a police chief and another Civil Police investigator and targeted artists and digital influencers – including MCs Brisola, GHdo 7 and Paiva.

The action increases the crisis in São Paulo’s Public Security, already shaken by reports of police violence involving PMs and assaults carried out by civil police against members of the Capital’s First Command.

According to evidence collected by the feds, the MCs would have paid bribes of R$20,000 to R$100,000 to civil police officers in exchange for turning a blind eye to the illegal raffles they promoted on social media. Currently, the holding of raffles is prohibited by the Ministry of Finance, as it is an illegal game – only the draw for charitable entities was authorized by Law 5,768/1971.

Police officers also sent confidential investigation reports to protect criminals in order to pressure them for money. Estadão was unable to contact the defenses of police officers and MCs mentioned in the PF investigation until 8pm yesterday. Both the Public Security Secretariat and the Civil Police said they are monitoring the development of the investigations.

The investigator Rodrigo Barros de CamargoRato, from the 6th Police District of Santo André, in Greater São Paulo, was arrested for allegedly receiving bribes to “avoid or interrupt investigations related to illegal raffles promoted by Love Funk artists”.

He was the main target of Operation Latus Actio II. The new offensive investigates the connection between funk artists and entrepreneurs with the PCC’s money laundering, tax evasion, illegal lotteries and hiding assets through the purchase of luxury cars, farms, wine cellars and gold bars.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Rato would be the central piece of the “criminal network that demonstrated an organized structure, with division of tasks, use of companies to move resources and coordination between businesspeople, artists and public agents, evidencing the practice of active corruption, corruption passive, money laundering and gambling exploitation”. He was arrested yesterday.

Four prosecutors endorse the Public Ministry’s statement supporting the PF’s requests in Operation Latus Actio II – Juliano Carvalho Atoji, Carlos Bruno Gaya da Costa, Fábio Ramazzini Bechara and Eduardo A. Velloso Roos Neto. They are members of Gaeco, the Group to Combat Organized Crime. The document points to evidence of the involvement of another police officer, Adriano Fernandes Bezerra, the Spaniard, Rato’s partner in the 6th DP of Santo André.

Messages

According to prosecutors, the two police officers were mentioned in WhatsApp messages as “organizers of passive corruption to protect those involved in misdemeanor crimes and money laundering”. Delegate Alexandre Custódio Neto, director of FICCO, also obtained in court the removal from public service of Rato and the other two police officers investigated: Espanhol and delegate Gilmar Camargo Bessa, who headed them.

The dialogues that led to the opening of the offensive were recovered during the first phase of Operation Latus Actio, in March. As Estadão showed, records of bribe payments to police officers were found on the cell phone of one of those investigated – businessman Vitor Hugo dos Santos. On one occasion, Vitor Hugo wrote. “So, they wanted 1 and a half million, we already dropped it to 800, then it went to 500 and now I told them they are going to send them a coffee there for 50 thousand.” In another, an MC indicated what percentage of the raffle tickets would be forwarded to investigators under suspicion. “Police, I pay 7%, but I closed 150 thousand.”

Rato and Espanhol were the target of Federal Police investigations. The PF also searched addresses linked to delegate Gilmar Camargo Bessa, head of the 6th DP of Santo André. According to the investigation, Bessa’s name appears in documents identified throughout the investigation, “raising the hypothesis of knowledge of or participation in illicit acts”. The dialogues that resonate in Bessa were held between Victor Hugo and MC Brisola. In the conversation, the latter talks about an alleged bribe payment of R$20,000 to civil police officers in Santo André.

In the dialogue, the MC sends the businessman a photo of the police report about a case: the raffle for a Fiat Toro Branca via the influencer’s Instagram. The businessman then questioned “what” the police officers wanted. The MC responds: “200 thousand reais”. He amended that he did not pay the full amount. “I will pay 10%.” The dialogue took place in November 2023.

MC

The operation also targets three MCs: Brisola (Silas Rodrigues Santos), Paiva (Davi José Xavier Paiva) and MC GHdo7 (Gustavo Henrique Ramos Toledo). The Prosecutor’s Office points out that, while using his influence to boost illegal raffles and attract participants, Silas directed part of the gambling resources for “illicit purposes”, including bribes to police officers to ensure the “continuity of his criminal activities”.

MC Paiva would have benefited from “illegal negotiations in which bribes were paid to civil police officers to avoid or interrupt ongoing investigations”. GH do 7 would be one of “the central figures in the illegal practices related to the scheme” of illegal raffles. According to the Public Ministry, his lawyer began negotiating with investigator Rato with a view to blocking investigations into illegal raffles.