Owner of Outsider Tours Arrested in Balneário Camboriú on Pará Fraud Warrant

Overview

• Santa Catarina civil police detained Fernando Sampaio, 36, on January 6 in a high-end building while he was on vacation, executing a preventive warrant issued by a court in Tucuruí, Pará.
• He is accused of marketing travel packages with tickets, flights and hotels that failed to materialize as contracted, with some customers discovering problems only at stadium gates or airline counters.
• G1 reports more than 600 legal cases tied to Sampaio and his companies, with complaints and police reports spread across at least 21 states and the Federal District.
• Police say he has been indicted in investigations in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and remains in the Santa Catarina prison system pending judicial decisions, with no information on a transfer to Pará.
• Outsider Tours’ website shows a “temporarily closed” notice and its social media are deactivated; Sampaio has previously denied fraud, claimed over R$2 million in reimbursements and said he has no assets, while his defense says it will comment after accessing the case files.