The Civil Police announced on Tuesday that they dismantled a bank fraud scheme that diverted salaries from soccer players through fake identities, in an operation that has arrested 11 people so far.
According to the investigation, criminals opened bank accounts with false documents on behalf of Brazilian athletes and requested the transfer of salary payments from their actual accounts to fraudulent accounts.
Among the identities used were those of Gabigol, former Flamengo and current Cruzeiro player, and Argentine Walter Kannemann of Grêmio, according to the press.
“As soon as the amounts were received, the scammers transferred money to other financial institutions, bought products and services or withdrawn at ATMs, making it difficult to track and recovery,” police said in a statement.
The investigation began in January, after a bank detected irregularities in athlete payroll portability operations.
The scheme managed to divert more than $ 1 million, from which the authorities recovered $ 135,000.
Bank “immediately corrected vulnerability” after noticing the scheme and reimbursed the victims, “who were unaware of the coup,” police said.
The operation, called “False 9”, mobilized more than 100 civil police officers of the states of Rondônia and Paraná, with the support of the corporations of Amazonas and Mato Grosso, who served 33 warrants on Tuesday, most of them search and seizure and preventive arrests.
The suspects are accused of electronic fraud, false identity, use of fake documents, criminal organization and money laundering, with penalties that can reach 33 years in prison.
