The Civil Police of Santa Catarina this Wednesday launched Operation Obturation (4), during which two people were arrested, bank accounts worth more than 84 million reais were frozen, and assets worth more than 25 million were confiscated reais obtained through illegal practices discovered in Blumenau, in the Itajaí Valley.

According to civilian police, the investigation led to the arrest this Wednesday of a millionaire bookseller from Blumenau and a bank manager (4) – Photo: Military Police/Disclosure/ND

According to authorities, the operation was led by the Criminal Investigations Division with support from the Dijk Money Laundering Laboratory, the intelligence core of the Blumenau Civilian Police, Decorah and the DTCA (Traffic and Environmental Crimes Police Station).

The purpose of the operation is to eliminate an economic group that has become rich through the exploitation of gambling and money laundering. The family group has been operating in this segment for over 30 years and has been under investigation by the civilian police for some time.

This Wednesday (4), two preventive arrest warrants and a further 15 search and arrest warrants were served in the cities of Blumenau, Gaspar, Balneario Camboriu and Bombinhas. Operation Obturasan took its name from the academic background of the stall owner, who was also arrested this Wednesday (4) in Blumenau.

Police seized assets and bank accounts worth more than 100 million reais.

The court ordered the confiscation of 24 properties worth more than 25 million reais and the freezing of 81,966,346.65 reais from bank accounts linked to the family under investigation.

It was also decided to introduce precautionary measures, such as a ban on leaving the country for a period of 24 hours to present the passport of the mother of one of the prisoners who was not detained. During the searches, VW Nivus and VW T-Cross cars were seized, as well as about 62,000 reais in cash.

The court also ordered the confiscation of a Phantom 303 boat, a jet ski and a 2020 Volvo XC 60 T8 car belonging to the defendants.

The investigation revealed that the family group began hunting animals at least 30 years ago. After the death of the business founder in 2006, his widow and one of his sons took over the management of the Jogo do Bicho stand in the center of Blumenau.

According to the Civil Police, the group under investigation used the lottery and two asset managers to hide or disguise the money received from the exploitation of animals. During this time, without any repression from the state, the family became rich.

On Friday (29) last week, the person being investigated as the owner of the bank was approached by the civil police with R$604,180 in cash. The civil police seized and submitted this amount to the court.

According to the Civil Police, after completion of the procedure, the prisoners were taken to the regional prison Blumenau, where they will be available for trial. The civilian police emphasized the prompt analysis of requests from the 2nd Prosecutor’s Office and the 2nd Criminal Court of the District of Blumenau, which is crucial for the success of the operation.