The Federal Police launched on Tuesday (15) Operation Farra Brasil 14, in Rio de Janeiro, to dismantle a criminal organization specializing in fraud through the Caixa Tem application. According to the PF, the investigators paid bribes to employees of Caixa Econômica and lottery houses to gain access to values through the application, which pays social benefits from the federal government.
20 cell phones, six notebooks, two vehicles, plus documents were seized in the action. The seized objects will be submitted to technical expertise and analysis for continuity of investigations.
Since the creation of Caixa has, in April 2020, the coordination of repression of electronic bank frauds of the PF cyber crimes board has recorded about 749,000 proceedings of almost R $ 2 billion by Caixa Econômica Federal. The investigations had the help of the National Centralizer for Fraud Security and Prevention (CEFRA), in Brasilia and the Caixa Regional Corregedoria, in Rio de Janeiro, the PF said in a statement.
According to the PF, investigations show that most victims are the beneficiary of federal government social programs, but fraud also affects FGTS and worker-unemployment insurance, all managed by cash.
In the action, about 80 federal police officers were assigned to comply with 23 search and seizure warrants in the municipalities of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, São Gonçalo, Maricá, Itaboraí, Macaé and Rio das Ostras. In addition to the warrants, the Federal Court has imposed various precautionary measures of the arrest for 16 investigated.
The investigated will be responsible for the crimes of criminal organization, qualified theft, active and passive corruption, as well as the insertion of false data in information systems, with the maximum penalties and can reach 40 years of imprisonment.
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In a statement, Caixa reports that it acts together with the public security agencies in investigations and operations that fight fraud and blows. Such information is considered confidential and passed on exclusively to the Federal Police and other competent bodies for analysis and investigation.
The bank also informed that it uninterruptedly monitors its products, services and bank transactions to identify suspicious cases. “Additionally, Caixa clarifies that it has strategy and security procedures for the protection of data and operations of its customers and has specialized technologies and teams to ensure security to their processes and service channels.”