Integrated action brings together the government of São Paulo, Public Ministry, Federal Revenue, PGFN and police forces; more than 190 targets are investigated in six states and the DF
The Government of and the paulista launched, this Thursday (27), the operation “Poço de Lobato”, a coordinated mega-action to dismantle a broad tax fraud scheme attributed to one of the largest business groups in the country in the. The offensive is led by the Interinstitutional Asset Recovery Committee (CIRA/SP), which brings together the State Attorney General’s Office (PGE/SP), the Finance and Planning Secretariat (Sefaz/SP) and the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MPSP).
The operation mobilizes around 600 agents in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Distrito Federal and Maranhão, where search and seizure warrants are executed. In total, more than 190 targets, including individuals and legal entities, are being investigated for being part of a criminal organization responsible for crimes against the economic and tax system, as well as money laundering. The investigations estimate a loss of more than R$26 billion, accumulated in debts registered in active debt.
The action is supported by the Attorney General’s Office of the National Treasury (PGFN), the Municipal Treasury Department of São Paulo and the Civil and Military police. According to Sefaz/SP, companies linked to the investigated group acted as intermediaries to avoid paying ICMS, using repeated tax infractions, interconnected corporate networks and simulations of interstate sales. Even after the application of several Special Official Regimes, the scheme persisted, creating new mechanisms to circumvent taxation and unbalance competition.
In parallel with the criminal measures, which include the kidnapping of assets and valuables, PGE/SP ordered the immediate blocking of R$8.9 billion from members of the business group. PGFN also obtained from the Federal Court the unavailability of R$ 1.2 billion.
The name of the operation refers to Poço de Lobato, the first oil discovery in Brazil, in 1939, in Salvador (BA). The investigations also indicate that the scheme was supported by a complex network of collaborators, which employed forgeries, layered corporate structures and other strategies designed to hide the true beneficiaries, allowing the expansion of the group’s activities in the fuel production and distribution chain.
Group in the fuel sector that owes more than R$26 billion in taxes is the target of Operation Poço de Lobato
