With a license that only allowed them to carry out research, entrepreneurs would have extracted gold illegally and devastated an extensive area of forest in the north of the country, according to the Federal Police.
“Although it is a simple search authorization, it appears that those investigated have, in fact, been illegally exploring the site”, said the police officers in the investigation that supported Operation Greed, one of the three actions launched against the group on Thursday. fair (7).
As reported by the Sheetone of the suspects, businessman Márcio Macedo Sobrinho, a partner at Gana Gold, currently MM Gold, lavished a life of luxury.
Information collected by the PF revealed millionaire transactions in their accounts and expenses with helicopters, speedboats, imported truck and a wedding party packed to the sound of famous country duos.
Police estimate that companies linked to Sobrinho moved around R$16 billion between 2019 and 2021.
The investigation shows that the group did not have mining authorization to carry out the activity in an area linked to the municipality of Itaituba (PA). Mining is the type of license issued by the government that allows the extraction of ore.
It only held a GU (user guide), issued in March 2020, “of an exceptional nature, and cannot be confused with the final authorization”, said the police. Investigators said the exceptionality was not observed by the suspects.
“There is intense activity in the place that clearly surpasses that of mere research, with significant movement of trucks.”
To illustrate the suspicions raised against the business group, the PF attached aerial photos of an area of approximately 192 hectares to the file.
Images show stretches of devastated forest. In the area were built shacks, sheds and other structures used for exploration of the site.
In March 2020, according to the PF, the ANM (National Mineral Agency) issued a usage guide on behalf of Ghana.
The expert responsible for the analysis of the case identified incompatible values for the commercialization of gold that exceed by up to 33 times the estimated content of use of the product in mineral research.
As of August 2021, in just one year and five months, Ghana “has recorded the trade of a corresponding total of 3,998,223 g (three million, nine hundred ninety-eight thousand, two hundred and twenty-three grams) of gold or approximately , 4 t (four tons)”.
This represents, according to the PF, an increase of about 2,380% in relation to the annual production informed in the usage guide, which predicted about 96,519.16 grams of gold every 12 months.
“Thus, in that period, the production should have been 160,865.72 g (one hundred and sixty thousand, eight hundred and sixty-five grams and seventy two hundredths) of gold and not nearly four tons,” the police said.
The Ghana Gold company, according to the investigation, “heated” the gold extracted illegally in mines in the northern region of the country. For this, it used invalid environmental licenses, extrapolating the research limits it had.
The company could not be reached by the report for comment on the allegations.
When poring over the financial data of the business group led by Ghana Gold, the PF says it has discovered that dozens of investigated “moved millions of dollars and demonstrated that they had high wealth”.
They also concealed the amounts from the crime, and some of them requested and received emergency aid from the federal government during the pandemic.
“A movement of billions of amounts by the criminal group was revealed, with millionaire deposits and withdrawals in cash, shell companies and bank transfers between those involved,” the police said.
In a document attached to the search and arrest request, the PF details through photos how the businessman spent part of the money from illegal mining.
Macedo’s wedding, for example, had two famous country couples as an attraction. Bruno and Marrone, from the classics “Dormi na Praça” and “Choram as Rosas”, and Jads and Jadson sang at the event.
“According to open websites, the fee for the first pair is approximately R$220,000 and that of the second reaches R$80,000, high amounts spent only on the wedding bands”, says the PF.
The investigators also list in the document photos of Macedo’s luxury goods, all with a sticker with his particular logo: the MM, initials of his name.
Among the photos added to the report by the investigators are a speedboat with the name “Garimpeiro”, imported truck, helicopter and planes.
Another asset that the PF points out to Macedo’s luxury life is the mansion in Novo Progresso (PA).
