Brazilian police confiscated $33 million in the case of money laundering through cryptocurrency exchanges – Bits Media

Brazilian police confiscated 172 million reais ($33 million) during the investigation of a case of money laundering through local cryptocurrency exchanges. Exchange names were not disclosed.

Brazilian law enforcement carried out Operation Exchange in Sao Paulo and Diadem. According to the official application, The judicial authorities authorized the freezing of accounts and the arrest of assets from two persons and 17 companies. During the investigation, it was confiscated $33 million, received from criminal activity. The names of people and the names of companies are not disclosed.

The investigation showed, that cryptocurrency exchanges bought and sold BTC to fictitious companies, created to facilitate the access of their creators to the banking system. For five months, one of the exchanges made a deal with crypto actures on $1.93 Milln with six firms, and eight other fictitious companies acquired cryptocurrency for $2.9 Milln for the same period.

According to law enforcement officers, Exchange did not check the legality of the work of organizations or the origin of transactions. Besides, Exchange acted on behalf of the criminal organization, engaging in money laundering through cryptocurrencies. According to the investigation, Money was transferred to offshore companies, and then returned to the country by simulating transactions of sale or service.

The preliminary investigation showed, that the companies conducted large transactions among themselves, and then sent money to intermediaries, who bought crypto assets and handed over closed keys to their clients.

Recall, that in the middle of the month, the British police confiscated crypto assets worth more than £ 180 million (about $250 million). This is the largest confiscation of this kind in the UK and one of the largest in the world.