MPRJ and Internal Affairs carried out an operation this Friday (6) against 3 civil police officers. They are suspected of charging R$100,000 from a businessman in Niterói.
The action carried out 3 search warrants. Police officer Rogério de Oliveira Gomes was arrested in the act with someone else's weapon.
In May last year, agents used an investigation into elder abuse as a pretext to demand money from the owner of an ice factory.
The businessman handed over R$20,000 on the day and R$10,000 later. The 3 agents were charged with the crime of concussion.
The Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) and the Civil Police Internal Affairs Division carried out, this Friday (6), an operation against three civil police officers accused of demanding R$100,000 from a businessman who owns an ice factory in Niterói, in the Metropolitan Region of Rio.
The operation aimed to execute three search and seizure warrants at addresses linked to the agents. During the action, police officer Rogério de Oliveira Gomes was arrested in the act for having a weapon registered in someone else's name.
The other two police officers targeted in the operation are Felipe de Oliveira Busch and Diego Gonçalves Vianna. The three are assigned to the Special Police Station for Assistance to Elderly People (Deapti), in Copacabana, in the South Zone of Rio.
The agents were at two addresses in Rogério: a condominium on Estrada Benvindo de Moraes, in Recreio, and another property in Vargem Pequena, in the Southwest Zone. He was at the second address when he was arrested.
According to the Public Ministry's complaint, the case began in May last year, when police officers went to the ice factory, in the Caramujo neighborhood, in Niterói, to investigate a complaint of mistreatment against an elderly person.
According to the MPRJ, the inspection would have been used as a pretext to extort the businessman. At the scene, the agents began to question the origin of the equipment and the company's electricity connection, stating that there were irregularities.
The police officers reportedly said that, in order not to take action against the factory, the businessman should pay R$100,000.
“From the first moment, the final conclusion is that this pseudo-anonymous complaint to investigate mistreatment was an excuse to enter the place, with the intention of making the demand there, embarrassing the ice factory for this financial advantage”, stated Fabio Corrêa, coordinator of the Specialized Action Group in Public Security (Gaesp) of the MPRJ.
According to the investigation, the businessman said he did not have the R$100,000. The police officers would then have divided the charge into three installments.
That day, the factory owner handed over R$20,000 to the agents. He agreed to pay another R$30,000 the following day, but only delivered R$10,000.
TV Globo had access to images of the second payment, made at a gas station in Bonsucesso, in the North Zone of Rio. The recording first shows the arrival of the businessman's car and then the approach of police station vehicles. According to the investigation, it was at this meeting that the R$10,000 was handed over to the police.
The three agents were charged with the crime of concussion, which occurs when a public official demands an undue advantage due to their position. The expected penalty can reach 12 years in prison.
During this Friday's operation, agents seized cell phones, computers and other electronic equipment at the addresses of those being investigated.
The Public Prosecutor's Office will analyze the material to further investigate the charge made to the businessman and verify whether the police officers may have committed other crimes.
“Precisely with the aim of not only clarifying further, but also seeking evidence both of this reported situation and in relation to any other conduct that may have been carried out by these police officers”, explained the prosecutor.
TV Globo was unable to contact the police defense. The Civil Police reported that the Internal Affairs investigation is ongoing.
