Brazilian Federal Police began raiding six (undisclosed) cryptocurrency exchanges on Thursday in an investigation into tax evasion and money laundering related to the use of cryptocurrencies.
As part of Operation Colossus carried out in conjunction with Brazilian tax authorities, the Federal Police are executing 101 warrants issued by criminal courts in São Paulo, according to an official police report. These include two arrest warrants and 37 search and seizure warrants.
In addition, the police ordered the freezing of about $ 238 million of assets and securities held by those under investigation, and they also seized an amount of virtual (undisclosed) assets held by 28 exchanges under investigation.
The investigations stem from a report conducted by Brazil’s Financial Intelligence Agency, which found that suspicious banking activity was involved in the trading of crypto assets. The alleged violations occurred between 2017 and 2021, but according to Brazilian police, these violations are still ongoing.
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