Forty-five people were arrested in flagrante delicto for criminal association in an operation against the payroll loan scam, in Rio de Janeiro, on Friday (10).
The action is a result of the arrest of 31 people, which took place on January 6 of this year. The investigations revealed that the group operated in a new clandestine central, in the center of the Rio de Janeiro capital.
According to the police, the suspects used the place to carry out operations to entice victims — mostly elderly people — and bank fraud. There, agents found members of the group carrying out negotiations with clients, as well as four partners and leaders of the gang.
Responsible for the investigation, delegate André Prattes explained that the suspects were looking for people who already had debts to offer a renegotiation through the payroll loan. “They convinced seniors and pensioners to take out new loans.
“The values were transferred to legal entities of these criminals. They claimed that they would pay future monthly installments. They paid one, two, three installments. From the fourth, they did not pay anymore and disappeared, generating malicious bankruptcies, dismantling the offices and setting up structures elsewhere, leaving the victim with 30, 40 installments”, said the delegate.
The operation seized hundreds of notebooks with personal and banking data and information on frauds that occurred against victims spread throughout the national territory, in addition to dozens of computers and contracts already signed.
The Civil Police informed that the material will be analyzed. After the investigation, the room where the gang’s office was located was closed off. The investigation conducted by the 31st DP (Ricardo de Albuquerque) will be spun off into another investigation, which seeks to identify other leaders of the group, as well as financial transactions.