The Public Ministry of São Paulo (MPSP) on Monday (23) denounced a group of 16 people for forming a private militia, extorting, money laundering and exploiting street vendors, many of them foreigners, in the Brás neighborhood, one of the main popular shopping areas in the city.
Among those reported are five military police officers and a Civil Police clerk.
According to the MP’s Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (GAECO), the group operated by collecting payments from illegal street vendors.
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One of the witnesses interviewed by prosecutors said that those accused demanded payment of R$15,000 per year and another R$300 per week to work at the site.
The complaint was made as part of Operation Aurora, launched on December 16th with the Military Police Internal Affairs and the Civil Police Internal Affairs. Of the 16 accused, nine were already serving preventive detention. The court has not yet stated whether it will accept the complaint.
The MPSP reported that the investigations began after information from the PM’s Internal Affairs Department about the case. The prosecution said that the street vendors used loan sharks to pass on the money to the supposed militiamen. The collection of “debts” from “debtors” was carried out with extreme violence.
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Operation Aurora had ordered the execution of 15 preventive arrest warrants, in addition to another 20 search and seizure warrants.
R$145,000 were found in the home of one of those investigated. Eight companies and another 21 people had their banking and tax secrecy broken. At the time, six military police officers and one civil police officer were detained. A military police officer and a civilian remain at large.
(With Agência Brasil)
