On the day that the Federal Revenue launched a mega operation against fraud in the fuel sector, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated the importance of direct dialogue with the United States government to curb crimes of currency evasion and money laundering.
When speaking to journalists outside the Ministry of Finance this Thursday (27), the minister explained that criminals use the state of Delaware, in the United States, as a tax haven to illegally take money from Brazil, without proper declaration, and then bring it back “laundered”.
“The last operation was sending R$1.2 billion to these funds in Delaware, which returned here in the form of investment, as if it were a foreign investment. But, in fact, the money left here.”
He and the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, have already spoken with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva about the urgency of this articulation with the North American country.
Furthermore, Haddad stated that, based on these investigations, the Federal Police will work to recover assets abroad and mobilize the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
“We made a representation to the Federal Public Ministry in Rio de Janeiro. There are 300 pages of all the financial transactions and the criminal scheme so that the justice system in Rio de Janeiro can give impetus to these processes”, he detailed.
Lobato Well
Operation Poço de Lobato was launched this Thursday in five states to dismantle tax evasion and money laundering schemes in the fuel sector.
The warrants were served in Bahia, the Federal District, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo
Today’s operation is an offshoot of Operation Hidden Carbonwhich closed dozens of gas stations in the states of Maranhão, Piauí and Tocantins.
The Federal Revenue Service has already identified 17 funds linked to the group, which have a net worth of R$8 billion. Most of them are closed-end funds with a single shareholder, usually another fund, creating layers of concealment.
“You also need to act from the top floor. It is the top floor that irrigates criminal activities with billions. Today R$8 billion in funds are being blocked. In Operation Hidden Carbon it was R$30 billion. Today alone it was R$8 billion.”
Contumacious Debtor
Haddad also once again asked Congress to complete the vote on the persistent debtor’s text, a bill that creates a specific regime to punish taxpayers who deliberately and repeatedly evade taxes.
The text already was approved in the Senate and awaits processing in the Chamber.
“It is an appeal that I leave here, it is work that we have been doing for three years. We have improved the text, we have included in the law a series of benefits for the good taxpayer, to separate the wheat from the chaff”, said the minister. According to him, the bill protects “99%” of honest taxpayers.
“A very balanced law. If it weren’t, it wouldn’t have passed unanimously in the Senate,” he said.
“If we manage to sanction it this year, we will enter next year stronger on this issue”, he added.
