Ricardo Magro was mentioned by the PT member in connection with the US president and is the target of a PF operation
The president (PT) asked the president of the United States, Donald Trump (Republican Party), for help in arresting businessman Ricardo Magro, owner of Refit and held this Friday (May 15, 2026).
The request was reported by Lula in . According to the Brazilian president, the United States could collaborate in the fight against organized crime by handing over fugitive Brazilians living in the country.
“I sent him [Trump]on the same day, the proposal of what we want to do. I even told him that one of the big bosses of Brazilian organized crime, who is the biggest debtor in this country, imports easy fuel, lives in Miami”said Lula in December 2025.
Ricardo Magro was the target of the Sem Desconto operation, launched by the PF. The investigation also targeted the former governor of Rio (PL).
The operation investigates suspected irregularities in the fuel sector.
REFIT
Refit is led by Ricardo Magro, who acquired the Rio de Janeiro refinery in 2008. The businessman already worked in the fuel sector through the Tigrão gas station network.
The company is known by state finance departments as “contumacious debtor” —companies that fail to pay taxes on a recurring basis.
Under Magro’s management, Refit was the target of police operations and was closed by the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) in September and October 2025.
The Refit Group was the target of an investigation in 2010 into the fuel mafia in Rio de Janeiro, under suspicion of carrying out a tax maneuver at the refinery to import gasoline without paying taxes and selling the product to distributors.
The Manguinhos refinery lost refining as its main activity and was classified by the State Finance Department as a fuel distributor.
In 2025, the company was also the target of the Hidden Carbon operation, which investigates the supply of fuel to distributors linked to the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital).
In November, the company was once again the target of a police operation, Poço Lobato. The investigation investigates suspicions of tax evasion, structured fraud and concealment of assets that may have caused losses of more than R$26 billion to public coffers.
