The Brazilian Federal Police on Tuesday arrested 13 people, including the mayor of a small town, in two anti-fraud operations in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the police said.
The first operation, coded Chacrinha, was carried out in the state's capital city of Porto Alegre, and resulted in the arrests of six people. The police also seized computers, documents and 330,000 reais (143,000 U.S. dollars) in cash.
Dubbed Sonho Encantado, the second operation took place in a region named Taquari Valley and resulted in seven arrests, including the mayor of a town.
The police said the two gangs had no links, but their modus operandi were very similar, and both were headed by public servants at the social security offices.
The two gangs fabricated payments to the social security system, so that the beneficiaries could receive retirement pensions of a high value.
A five-month investigation showed the two gangs profited totally around 12 million reais (5.2 million U.S. dollars) from their schemes.
Source:Xinhua
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