Rio Prosecutors Detain 10 in Sweep Targeting Refit Tax‑Fraud Network

Overview

• The Gaesf/MPRJ operation, conducted Wednesday, issued 14 arrest warrants and detained 10 suspects tied to the Refit corporate web while seizing luxury vehicles, large cash sums, dozens of watches and two aircraft.
• Investigators allege the group used relatives, friends and shell companies to falsify import operations and avoid ICMS tax payments, a model described by prosecutors as running from port to gas station.
• Authorities say Refit and its affiliates left the State of Rio with huge liabilities, including about R$14.7 billion in state debt and broader alleged losses prosecutors estimate in the billions over nearly two decades.
• Owner Ricardo Magro remains a fugitive believed to be in the United States, his name has been sent to Interpol, and prosecutors are seeking cooperation to reach him and relatives reported in Portugal.
• Prosecutors plan follow‑up probes into the network’s financial and operational cores, and the case could free assets for public coffers if convictions hold and international tracing of funds succeeds.