Hidden Carbon: Beto Louco and Primo accused of money laundering through sugar and ethanol plants

São Paulo prosecutors have accused two of the main businessmen investigated in Operation Hidden Carbon of using sugar and ethanol plants to launder money and rebuild their business network in the fuel sector.

The Special Action and Repression Group against Organized Crime, known as Gaeco, charged Roberto Augusto Leme da Silva, nicknamed Beto Louco, and Mohamad Hussein Mourad, known as Primo, with forming a criminal organization, money laundering and ideological falsehood. Seven other people were also charged.

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The complaint repeats the entire stratagem that Operation Hidden Carbon has pursued since it was launched, namely a strategy of speculation about unproven facts inserted into a narrative disconnected from reality.

The case concerns the formation of the Itajobi Group in Catanduva, in São Paulo state, through the acquisition of sugar and ethanol plants. Prosecutors allege that the operation created a criminal ecosystem extending across the sector's supply chain. They said the proceeds and benefits of the alleged crimes reached billions of reais through concealment and fraud.

This is Gaeco's second complaint under Operation Hidden Carbon. It is the first to target Primo and the second involving Beto Louco, who are also investigated in a major tax and fuel fraud scheme. Prosecutors allege that criminally controlled gas stations were used to launder funds linked to the Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC.

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We will prove during the proceedings that the complaint is unfounded and will also demonstrate that the case is null and void.

The investigation examined how the pair restructured their businesses after Operation Cassiopeia led to the closure of the Copape-Aster group in 2023. Prosecutors said the restructuring took place through Itajobi and GGXGlobal. They also alleged that the two men learned of the Hidden Carbon operation before it began, fled the country, destroyed evidence and obstructed the investigation.

Both men sought to negotiate plea agreements with prosecutors in São Paulo, but the offers were rejected. They remain fugitives and have consistently denied any relationship with the PCC. Mourad's defense called the accusations a repetition of an alleged strategy based on speculation and unproven facts. Beto Louco's defense said it would prove the complaint unfounded and demonstrate that the proceedings were invalid.

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The proceeds and benefits of the criminal organization's offenses reached billions, obtained solely through concealment and fraud.