In a statement, the Federal Police indicated that, in addition to the arrest of the Brazilian citizen, two search and seizure warrants were served, with the aim of dismantling a “transnational criminal group specialised in carrying out bank fraud via the world wide web”.

The judicial orders were determined by the 12th Court of the Federal Court of Ceará and served in the city of Eusébio, in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza.

The police work, the result of international cooperation with the Portuguese authorities, identified in the investigation evidence that a Brazilian resident in Eusébio (Ceará) acted in fraud in Portugal, in collusion with Portuguese citizens.

“The investigation showed that the Brazilian investigated is part of a criminal group that accesses customer databases in financial institutions abroad, through fraud, and diverts resources from these customers. It was found to have caused more than half a million Euros in losses to customers of Portuguese banks,” the Federal Police explained in a statement.

In the action, the Brazilian Federal Police seized a luxury vehicle, phones, computers and documents related to the purchase of real estate in the two addresses linked to the investigated.

“The work of federal police officers continues with analysis of the material seized in the police operation,” the corporation concluded.