Operation against fraud at Detran arrests 10 suspects of vehicle cloning in PA and 4 other states

The Civil Police arrested 10 people this Wednesday (12) in 5 states. The operation dismantled a vehicle registration fraud scheme at Detran.

The group used data from new cars to register cloned vehicles. The fraud prevented real owners from registering their legitimate cars at dealerships.

The police identified 64 cars in the scheme, valued at more than R$9 million. People registered as "orange" had more than 20 vehicles in their names.

Searches were carried out in Marabá and Itupiranga. "The second phase of the operation will be responsible for investigating, mainly, the financial issue of this criminal association", informed the police.

A Civil Police operation dismantled, on Wednesday (12), an interstate vehicle registration fraud scheme that operated from within the traffic systems of the Department of Traffic (Detran). In total, 10 people were arrested in five different states, with seven of the arrests taking place in Pará.

According to investigations, the criminal organization used data from new vehicles, which were still in the yards of car manufacturers, dealerships or military units, to register cloned cars and trucks in the Detran system.

With the insertion of false data, the tampered vehicles gained documentation that appeared to be completely regular, according to the police.

The real owners, when trying to register legitimate vehicles at dealerships, were unable to complete the process due to duplicate registrations.

The police reported that they identified 64 cars involved in the scheme, whose total estimated value exceeds R$9 million.

Detran do Pará did not comment.

Detran servers and 'oranges' involved

The structure of the criminal group was well divided and had the active participation of public agents. According to the Civil Police, the scheme involved:

Detran do Pará servers;

Vehicle inspectors;

"Oranges" (people who gave up their names and documents so that counterfeit vehicles could be registered).

The investigation drew attention to the profile of the "oranges". Some of these people, even residing in other states in the country, were listed as owners of more than 20 vehicles registered in Pará.

Action in five states

The court orders were served simultaneously in five Brazilian states: Pará, São Paulo, Goiás, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte.

In Pará, the focus of the operation was the southeast region of the state. The arrests were made in the municipalities of:

Itupiranga

Parauapebas

Tucuruí

In addition to the arrests, the Civil Police also carried out several search and seizure warrants in the cities of Marabá and Itupiranga.

Next steps and crimes investigated

The suspects must face serious crimes involving tampering and inserting false data into public systems.

"They will be responsible for criminal association, tampering with vehicle identification elements (such as license plate and chassis) and improper insertion of data into Detran's public systems, among other crimes", explained the regional superintendent of the Civil Police, Antônio Mororó.

According to the superintendent, the operation does not end with this Tuesday's arrests. A second phase is already being planned by police teams.

"The second phase of the operation will be responsible for investigating, mainly, the financial issue of this criminal association", he concluded.