A network of illicit service providers links different criminal groups across Brazil, creating what experts describe as criminal convergence. Money laundering is the main connection among them, but the network also provides accounting services, counterfeit goods, transportation of illegal products and the sale of shell companies.
The latest case involves accountants Meire Poza and Leonardo Meirelles, who were targeted in a Gaeco operation investigating a financial scheme that allegedly benefited the PCC. Prosecutors say Meirelles acted as an intermediary with clients, while Poza advised suspects on how to conceal illicit income.
Both have been linked to money-laundering schemes since the Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato) investigation, which uncovered the diversion of billions of reais through public contracts.
A Europol study and an Organization of American States (OAS) report identify the outsourcing of criminal activities as a growing risk. A researcher affiliated with the United Nations also says Brazilian agencies still lack sufficient coordination to combat the phenomenon.
Read the article in the original language
