Brazilian Police Tighten Refit Probe as Tax Debt Claims Diverge

Brazil’s Federal Police have widened pressure on Refit, a Rio de Janeiro fuel-refining group, and on businessman Ricardo Magro, who is linked to the company, amid a large tax-fraud and money-laundering investigation.

O Globo columnist Lauro Jardim reported on May 31 that police investigations into Refit, alleged tax fraud and the group’s political relationships had advanced. That point is based on single-source reporting from O Globo. Other outlets and industry sources have reported separate steps in the same case, including asset freezes, an arrest warrant and a possible move by Rio’s government to expropriate the refinery site.

What Police Are Investigating

The case centers on Operation Sem Refino, a Federal Police probe into an economic conglomerate in Brazil’s fuel sector. According to CNN Brasil, the operation, coordinated with the Federal Revenue Service, investigates suspected use of companies and financial transactions to hide assets, move funds abroad and frustrate tax collection.

CNN reported that the courts ordered the blocking of about R$52 billion in financial assets of the group and suspended its economic activities. Finance Ministry official Dario Durigan said on X on May 15 that Refit’s estimated debt to the tax authorities reached R$52 billion, citing earlier investigations called Cadeia de Carbono and Poço de Lobato that allegedly found a sophisticated corporate structure used to conceal assets and obstruct creditors.

Refit denied falsifying tax declarations to gain tax advantages, according to CNN. The company said tax disputes involving the business are being handled in judicial and administrative proceedings, and that current management inherited tax liabilities from previous administrations.

Magro and the Interpol Notice

Magro is the target of an arrest warrant and has not been located by the Federal Police, according to reports cited by Fecombustíveis and Estadão. A video report by O POVO said Interpol placed Magro on its red-notice system after a Brazilian request, making him subject to location and possible arrest across Interpol’s 196 member countries.

O POVO reported that the Brazilian request followed a decision by Alexandre de Moraes, a justice on Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF), authorizing the arrest warrant against Magro. The same court decision also authorized search-and-seizure measures involving Cláudio Castro, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro and a member of the Liberal Party (PL), according to the sources provided.

The Federal Police are also examining alleged inconsistencies between oil volumes processed and those declared to Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), CNN reported.

Debts and Political Links

The debt figures differ across the reports. O Globo said Magro’s group owes R$21 billion to the state of Rio de Janeiro. Fecombustíveis, citing Estadão, said Refit owes R$9.4 billion to Rio alone and R$55 billion when debts to states, municipalities and the federal government are combined. CNN cited Durigan’s R$52 billion figure for debt with the Federal Revenue Service. The discrepancy between those totals was not explained in the source material.

Rio’s acting governor, Ricardo Couto, wants to expropriate the land where the Refit refinery sits to offset at least part of the debt, Fecombustíveis reported, citing O Globo and Estadão. The Rio government did not detail how it would take the land or estimate its value, according to that report.

The investigation has also touched political figures. Fecombustíveis, citing Estadão, reported that the Federal Police say Castro tried to benefit the refinery by helping arrange a debt-refinancing plan that could have reduced up to 95% of the company’s debts to the state. Refit denied benefiting from the program, and Castro denied wrongdoing, saying he was available to the courts and convinced of his own probity.

Senator Ciro Nogueira of Progressistas was also cited in the reporting. The Federal Police said a Refit-linked investment fund paid R$14.5 million to a company owned by the senator’s family, while a former aide received R$1.3 million from a Refit-linked company, according to Fecombustíveis. Nogueira said the payment related to a regular land sale that was fully declared to the proper authorities.