The prosecutor Osmar Legal confirmed that in February of last year they opened a criminal case based on the detachment of the Luiz Carlos da Rocha case, alias Cabeza Branca, to several financial entities, including the Atlas bank, for money laundering as a result of the improper granting of loans. Gilberto Suárez, accused of money laundering, known as the “Cabeza Branca” tractor driver, benefited from a loan of US$ 6.5 million at Banco Atlas. The man put the Cielo Azul ranch as a mortgage guarantee, owned by the drug trafficker arrested in Brazil in 2017.
Source: Jorge Torres and Cinthia Mora
In February of last year, after twenty accusations were made in the “Cabeza Branca” case, another criminal case was opened for money laundering to financial entities (including the Atlas bank) for irregular granting of loans.
The prosecutor Osmar Legal reported that the new cause was a dismemberment of the fiscal folder of the agent Lorena Ledesma, who since 2017 has been investigating Luiz Carlos da Rocha for drug trafficking and his links. “Within the investigation (“Cabeza Branca”) there are indications of lack of diligence on the part of some banks for the granting of credits and a case is opened for the punishable acts of money laundering,” said the prosecutor.
This is the list of the main executives of the Atlas bank, who could be charged with money laundering.
Legal is from the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Unit and explains that the cover of his case is still unnamed, as it is an incipient investigation. “Now, with the financial technicians, we defined a line of work to feed the investigation. We are in a stage of analysis ”, he limited.
The prosecutor explains that criminal responsibility and administrative responsibility must be seen. In the case of corroborating that the bank did not do due diligence, it must be determined who was responsible for the crime. “The Central Bank will have to see if the proceedings were carried out and could apply measures against the representatives. We have to see how far the responsibilities go (to impute the directors), we cannot rule out or confirm yet, ”he said. The crime of money laundering carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
Until now, in the framework of the investigations, official letters have been issued for financial entities and public institutions, such as Senabico. “We are collecting the evidence, we try to nourish ourselves with elements to see if we make the decision to charge,” he explained.
Banco Atlas acknowledged that it carried out financial operations with a company that was directed, according to a tax investigation, by a front man for drug trafficker Luiz Carlos da Rocha, alias Cabeza Branca, considered the main injector of dirty money for drug trafficking in Paraguay.
Through a statement, the directors of the Atlas bank (of the Zuccolillo family) alleged that they are supposedly trying to install a false situation to discredit the institution.
However, the bank itself acknowledges in its letter made known to the public that in 2015 it granted a loan for US$4,238,350.67 to Biocombustible Brasilero SA, where Gilberto Suárez appears as president of the company and was the one who agreed to the line of credit, offering the Cielo Azul ranch as a mortgage guarantee.
Suárez, accused of money laundering, is the lend name of the powerful narco “Cabeza Branca”, as revealed by the Prosecutor’s Office. At the same time, the stay offered for this credit is in charge of Senabico.
For Atlas, the destination of the credit granted by the bank was the cancellation of a loan in another banking entity and the financing of a livestock investment project.
he revelations in the tax file that has 115 volumes are key to understanding the scheme set up by the drug lord and the use of the financial system for money laundering.
LINK OF ATLAS AND THE POWERFUL NARCO
In 2015, the Atlas bank gave a loan of US$6.5 million to a company linked to the powerful Brazilian drug trafficker. Gilberto Suárez, a client of Atlas, appears as president of the Biobras firm and was the one who agreed to the line of credit and put the Cielo Azul ranch as a mortgage guarantee.
When the return of the loan was not fulfilled, the Zuccolillo family bank resorted in 2019 to Justice to auction off the property and recover the borrowed money.
However, in 2020, Cielo Azul passed into the hands of Senabico after the fiscal intervention in the case against drug traffickers and the twenty figureheads he had at his disposal.
When applying a judicial prohibition to contract on Cielo Azul, Senabico requested to suspend the auction and initiated a lawsuit that is still pending resolution.
Last year, prosecutor Lorena Ledesma, from the Specialized Unit in the Fight against Drug Trafficking, revealed the connections between the Atlas bank and people linked to the drug world. She pointed out that the bank would have actively participated in operations for “granting loans to people who did not meet the financial profile, and in this way contribute to the integration of sums of money resulting from drug trafficking.”
