Mário Cruz / Lusa
The scheme involved the daily collection of money from merchants by delivery people. They made deposits into bank accounts maintained by fictitious firms, opened using false identities.
An alleged criminal network is accused of having laundered 88 million euros from sales without an invoice made in commercial establishments in the Varziela Industrial Zone, in Vila do Conde. The scheme, according to the Public Ministry of Porto, allowed the transfer of income to China without paying any taxes in Portugal.
According to the indictment, four defendants assumed the central role in the operation, collecting the money generated by stores participating in the scheme. Almost daily, one of them went around the establishments to collect amounts carried in black plastic bags, then distributed the money to several couriers.
The money was deposited in accounts held by companies with no real activity, created using falsified identification documents and false addresses.
The investigation identified dozens of these societies, including 38 that had their headquarters registered at a psychology office in São João da Madeirawithout any connection with the scheme. After being used for a few months, they were abandoned and replaced by new companies.
According to , these couriers went to various bank branches in the Northern Region to make deposits, mainly through ATMs. The funds were divided into amounts less than ten thousand eurosthus avoiding triggering control and detection mechanisms for money laundering by financial institutions.
A Judicial Police dismantled the network in an operation carried out in May 2025, which resulted in the arrest of the four main suspects. More than 1.5 million euros in cash and four cars.
In total, the Public Prosecutor’s Office accused 14 Chinese citizens and eight companies for the crimes of criminal association, money laundering and forgery, also claiming the loss of the seized values and the payment of the remaining 86.5 million euros.
