Monniky Fraga Arrested on Suspicion of Staging Her Own Kidnapping

Overview

• Fraga was taken into custody Tuesday during Operação Cortina de Likes, which deployed 30 civil police officers, served two arrest warrants and two search warrants, and drew support from São Paulo investigators.
• In a Wednesday briefing, a Special Operations Group deputy said evidence shows Fraga had a prior relationship with one participant and acted as the planner to draw followers.
• Police say the scheme used a cloned car and firearms to look real, and the husband reported he was robbed and struck during the staged abduction.
• Investigators named two male participants—one already imprisoned for other crimes and another who died before a warrant—and carried out a São Paulo search targeting a person suspected of receiving the ransom, while a third kidnapper remains unidentified.
• After a custody hearing, a judge kept Fraga in preventive detention as police work to finish the case within 10 days for prosecutors to review, and her lawyers asked for house arrest citing her minor children.