Brazil police arrest, search suspects in gold smuggling ring to US, Europe

Reuters

Published Sep 20, 2023 01:59PM ET

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's federal police said they arrested two people on Wednesday suspected of involvement in a racket smuggling gold illegally mined on Indigenous land to the U.S. and Europe.

Police carried out 16 search and seizure warrants across Brazil as part of the operation, an official police statement said, without giving more details.

A police source told Reuters that federal agents arrested Brubeyk Nascimento in northern Amazonas state, while the other person remains unnamed for now.

Werner Rydl, an Austrian millionaire and naturalized Brazilian, was the target of a search and seizure, the source said, adding that authorities seized gold bars kept by Rydl, worth more than 5.7 billion reais ($1.18 billion).

The operation began with the January 2020 seizure of 35 kilos of gold at Manaus airport, the police source said. Two New Yorkers and business partners, Frank Giannuzzi and Steven Bellino, as well as Nascimento, were trying to board a flight to New York with the gold in a suitcase, the source said.

The U.S. citizens are partners in a New York City-based firm, Doromet Inc, which was going to trade the metal, the source said. The three men claimed that the gold was the result of melted jewelry, and presented false documents to prove its origin, the source said.

However, the police's analysis of the material showed that the true origin of the gold was illegal mining in the Tapajos region of Para, northern Brazil.

"The investigation revealed that the criminal organization acquired gold from Indigenous lands and riverbeds with the use of dredges and fraudulently declared that the gold was extracted through legally granted mining permits," the official police statement said.

Reuters attempted to reach all parties in the police operations but did not receive a response.

Get The News You Want
Read market moving news with a personalized feed of stocks you care about.
Get The App

Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.

Sign out
Are you sure you want to sign out?
NoYes
CancelYes
Saving Changes