Brazilian Police Strike at Transnational Money‑Laundering Network and Freeze R$10.4 Billion

Overview

• The Polícia Federal carried out Operation Exchange on July 3–4, executing 11 arrest warrants and 13 search orders across São Paulo state and detaining several suspects tied to a scheme that authorities say moved more than R$10 billion.
• A federal court authorized seizure of assets and crypto up to R$10.4 billion as part of the criminal case while investigators declared alleged financial boss Victor Shimada a fugitive and confirmed he was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury.
• Brazilian authorities say the probe built on U.S. evidence, including the October 2023 seizure of Ygor Saviolli’s phone in Fort Lauderdale and FBI arrests in January 2026, which yielded chat logs and a spreadsheet listing about US$7.54 million in U.S. city operations.
• Investigators describe a concealment system using shell companies (for example Victory Trading and Pixwave), coded language for cash, physical couriers, informal exchange markets and crypto (USDT, Bitcoin) to move and hide illicit proceeds.
• Authorities will continue cross‑border evidence gathering with U.S. and other partners and face immediate tasks of tracing frozen funds, pursuing fugitives abroad and assessing wider damage to victims and businesses caught in the scheme.