Donald Trump could help Brazil fight organized crime by arresting the Florida resident accused of being the South American country’s biggest tax evader, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told his U.S. counterpart.
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“One of the major bosses of Brazilian organized crime — who is the country’s largest debtor and a fuel importer — lives in Miami,” the Brazilian president said Tuesday, referencing his phone call with Trump last week. “So if he wants to help, let’s help by arresting that one right away.”
Lula, as the leftist leader is known, did not name the person. But he was likely referring to Ricardo Magro, the head of Grupo Refit, a conglomerate that controls a major refinery in Rio de Janeiro. Investigations show that the group moved more than 70 billion reais ($12.9 billion) in one year using its own companies, investment funds and offshore entities to conceal and shield profits, according to Brazil’s tax service.
Grupo Refit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Authorities have been working to dismantle a tax-fraud scheme at Refit, which denies the government’s charges of tax evasion and says it’s contesting its current tax debts in court. Operations at the company’s Rio refinery have been suspended since September.
Brazil is seeking U.S. help to combat organized crime, and has sent Washington a proposal to cooperate on the issue. Last month, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said local investigations have revealed that criminal groups are laundering money through Delaware-based investment funds, and are also importing guns from the U.S. via shipping containers that are meant to transport commodities.
“I told Trump that if he wants to confront organized crime, we are at his disposal, and I sent him the same day a proposal of what we want to do,” Lula added.
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