The government of (PSD) in Goiás used a fintech under investigation, suspected of acting as a parallel bank for the PCC, to move R$1.36 billion from state management income transfer programs.
this year to apply.
A document from Coaf (Financial Activities Control Council) obtained by Sheet shows transfers of R$ 1.36 billion from the Goiás Development Agency to , known as BK Bank, a fintech identified by the PF (Federal Police), the Federal Revenue Service and the Public Ministry of São Paulo as suspected of .
The transfers from the development institution, which has the Government of Goiás as the majority shareholder and holder of controlling interest, were made between October 2021 and August 2025, the period referring to Caiado’s two terms.
The agency is responsible for operating social benefits, and transfers to an account at BK relate to the payment of income transfer programs that serve 880 thousand beneficiaries, according to the Government of Goiás. From this account, transfers were made to end users’ cards, according to state management.
A usage fee of up to 6% was levied on the value of social program operations, charged to commercial establishments accredited to make purchases by program beneficiaries. Of the amount charged, 50% went to the Development Agency and 50% to BK Bank.
This was in effect until 2024, when the Government of Goiás decided to hire a new fintech. The fee paid by merchants gained a new division: 75.6% goes to the Development Agency and 24.4% to the new contracted financial institution.
The transfer of resources to BK continued until August 2025, as shown in the Coaf document. It was the month of . This permanence was due to remaining balances, according to state management.
There is no information about the amount paid to BK as a fee charged to traders in Goiás.
“GoiásFomento did not carry out new financial transactions with BK Bank after August 2025,” said the government, in a note. “When Operation Hidden Carbon was launched, the agency adopted administrative and judicial measures to protect the public interest, considering that the contract had insurance coverage. To date, there has been no loss to GoiásFomento.”
BK was hired following a “regular accreditation procedure” in 2020, well before the events related to the PCC, the government stated. “The institution operated regularly in the market, with authorization from the Central Bank, and maintained contracts with several public bodies, such as Correios and Serpro.”
BK was contacted by email and telephone for the report, but there was no response.
After the outbreak of Carbono Oculto, Correios, Serpro and the Government of Paraná interrupted contracts with the fintech.
The Coaf document on BK’s movements brings together statements made by banks. Coaf is the federal government body responsible for preventing and detecting money laundering. Announcements are made when there are large transactions or with signs of irregularities.
BK is one of the main researched companies in Carbono Oculto. Fintech is seen as a parallel bank of the PCC, with the use of pocket accounts, in which multiple customers make deposits into a single account, in order to make it difficult to track the money.
According to investigations, the financial institution was used for billion-dollar transactions by companies associated with the PCC, especially alcohol plants and fuel distributors, with the origin and destination of the amounts transferred hidden.
Resources from city halls and public bodies also passed through BK, but in amounts much lower than the transactions carried out by the Goiás Development Agency, according to the Coaf document.
In the bank statements described in the Coaf report, there are transactions with gas stations, distributors and funds that would be related to PCC schemes.
The document points to signs of money laundering, financial transactions incompatible with the fintech’s revenue and receipt of funds with immediate debit of the amounts by BK, without apparent cause, mainly transfers from the Goiás Development Agency, in the case of this last item, as described in the Coaf report.
In total, 22 statements from banks regarding transactions by BK – which are suspected of irregularities – also deal with transactions related to the Goiás branch.
Most of it shows transfers from the Goiás Government company to fintech, and a smaller part, the opposite way, of resources from BK to the Development Agency. In this case, the movement involved R$28.5 million between July 2022 and September 2025.
“Amounts transferred by BK refer to the return of resources not used by the beneficiaries and the contractual remuneration provided for in the operationalization of the payment arrangement”, said the Goiás management.
BK is headquartered in Barueri (SP) and has a share capital of just over R$9 million. Fintech offered the necessary structure for shell companies controlled by criminal groups to move resources without transparency, according to investigations.
At the time of Carbono Oculto, the Court ordered the blocking of all amounts held by those investigated at BK, in addition to the preservation of statements, contracts and customer records.
According to the IRS, there was a “high volume of atypical transactions” involving BK and companies belonging to criminal groups. Resource inflows totaled R$17.7 billion, according to the Tax Authority report.
In pocket accounts, financial compensations are made internally, without the amounts leaving the payment institution, which creates a “layer of opacity”, makes it difficult to track resources and inhibits the fight against money laundering, according to the IRS.
