PF: Governor of Acre laundered money with cars and planes – 03/09/2023 – Power

The Federal Police found in the investigation of the operation Ptolomeu evidence that the governor of Acre, Gladson Cameli (PP), used transactions involving the purchase of luxury vehicles, planes, real estate and operations in cash and credit card to launder money arising from corruption.

Cameli is targeted this Thursday (9) of the 3rd phase of Ptolemy. He had against him an order for delivery of the passport and seizure of assets issued by the STJ (Superior Court of Justice).

According to the PF, the investigations indicate the existence of a “criminal organization, controlled by political agents and businessmen linked to the state executive branch of Acre, who acted in the diversion of public resources, as well as in carrying out acts of concealment of the origin and destination of the amounts subtracted through money laundering.”

In total, at the request of the PF, the seizure of R$ 120 million in assets of the investigated was authorized.

The governor’s targets are an armored car valued at BRL 200,000, a Beech Aircraft model aircraft worth BRL 1.5 million and three properties — an apartment worth BRL 6.5 million in São Paulo, a R$ 7 million in Rio Branco (AC) and a property in Brasília valued at R$ 600 thousand.

In addition to Cameli, his father, wife, two cousins, two uncles and two brothers are being investigated.

The governor, through his lawyers, says that he has already provided “due clarifications, made himself available to the authorities and remains so.”

The PF accessed Cameli’s tax secrets between 2018 and 2021. Data analysis, according to the investigation, indicated an exponential increase in the governor’s assets and the existence of a considerable difference between what was declared and the hidden assets .

After being elected governor, in 2018, the assets, according to the calculation, grew almost five times in relation to the declared assets when starting the mandate.

The officially declared value that year was BRL 2.8 million and the data show that, in 2021, the real estate was BRL 16 million, or growth of more than 470%.

In the case of luxury cars, the PF became suspicious of the governor’s transactions after the Coaf (Council for the Control of Financial Activities) forwarded a communication from the Stock Exchange about several vehicles whose financing was registered in the name of the same person and with a substantial difference in the price compared to the market price.

Based on the information, the investigators followed the path of the money and found a tangle of transactions with luxury vehicles operated directly and indirectly by the governor.

The negotiations resulted in an increase of R$ 2.8 million in Cameli’s vehicle equity. In 2018, in a statement to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), he claimed to have R$ 202,000 in cars, which means an increase of 1,400%.

Another suspicion of the PF is about the expenses of the governor and his wife with credit cards. The accumulated information indicates that there is an incompatibility between the amounts spent and the couple’s income. From 2018 to 2020, BRL 2.9 million was spent on invoices.

The way in which invoices were paid was also drawn to the attention of investigators, with fractional payments and settlement made by third parties that indicate possible money laundering.

The breaches of secrecy show that R$ 345,000 of the invoices were paid by unidentified people and another approximately R$ 145,000 were paid by third parties.

The investigators also analyzed the purchase of planes by the governor and found suspicions about the way in which the aircraft were acquired and paid for.

Cameli’s first aircraft was an Embraer model B810D declared worth R$ 350,000 in 2018. The PF found evidence that the plane was paid for in cash and in fractional deposits.

The following year, Cameli acquired another aircraft, a Beech Aircraft model BE58. As in the case of the first, the PF suspects the increase in the values ​​of the planes to create a financial ballast to be used in the future to warm up illegal values.

When transferring ownership of the aircraft, the governor declared R$ 1.5 million, but Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) informed the value of R$ 1.1 million.

The PF also points to the governor’s “inexplicable predilection” for cash transactions as suspected of money laundering. The breach of secrecy of their accounts reveals 375 deposits in their accounts that add up to BRL 2.3 million since 2018.

The investigation showed that most of the transfers come from employees of the state of Acre, Cameli’s family members and companies in which he has a stake.

Of the total received, according to the calculation, around R$ 900 thousand were deposited in fractions, a common characteristic of irregular transactions to hide the origin of the amounts.

The PF cites August 19, 2020, as an example, when the account received 20 deposits made at an ATM. Of this total, 13 were made for R$2,500 each.

In a note, the governor’s defense claims to be surprised by the new phase of the operation based on an “inquiry that has been going on for two years.”

“This is an investigation based on an evidentiary fishery and an illegal financial investigation, which attacked the governor’s family as a way of circumventing the proper jurisdiction”, say the lawyers.