Brazil’s Police Seized $33M In Latest Bitcoin Exchange Investigation

Brazil’s police seized $33 million in the latest Bitcoin exchange investigation which reportedly helped criminals launder money so let’s find out more in our latest Bitcoin news today.

Brazil’s police seized $33 million in a money-laundering probe and the operation involved 17 companies that wired funds among themselves and on other crypto exchanges. The police claim that the exchanges knew all about it. The seized funds reached $172 million Brazilian reals or $33 million US dollars. The fraud probe named “operation Exchange” covered six search warrants in Sao Paolo’s Diadema municipality and the capital city as per the statements from the police.

The investigation is still in progress but the police alleged that a number of crypto exchanges helped the gangs launder money. The police found 17 fake companies that were set up by criminals to launder money via the exchanges so after they washed the money, the criminals planned to send the funds offshore. Over five months, one exchange laundered $1.93 million from six fictitious companies as the police said eight others received $2.9 million. The crypto exchanges didn’t verify the origin of the funds as the police stated.

The courts seized assets from the companies and from two other people involved in the investigation. Earlier this month, the Brazilian police wrapped up “Operation Daemon” which is an investigation into alleged embezzlement of $1.5 billion reals that left 7000 victims behind. The police arrested Claudio Oliveira or the “bitcoin King” who headed BTC Banco Group which is a custodian firm that promised more profits to anyone that trusted the company with their funds. The firm claimed to have lost 7000 BTC at the end of 2019 as the police claimed it was a part of the scheme. It took the Brazilian police three years to complete Operation DAemon, but Operation Exchange has just begun.

Speaking of the crypto climate in Brazil, Ricardo Daros, Binance’s Director in Brazil resigned just six months after he assumed the role. Brazil is one of the few countries where Binance set up a physical office and the exchange entered the local market back in 2019 but this year, a group of Brazilian brokerage firms lodged a complaint against the company, accusing it of operating illegally. Despite the resignation, Da Ros insisted that he remains satisfied by the excellent results obtained in the country in the past 6 months. He expressed hope that Binance will set an example for the rest of the market.