A Brazilian businessman now wanted by Federal Police was arrested in late 2024, released 25 days later, and later disappeared from the authorities' reach, according to single-source reporting from Folha de S.Paulo.
Victor de Oliveira Shimada is the main target of a Federal Police operation launched on Friday, July 3. Investigators suspect him of leading a money-laundering structure that allegedly connects the First Capital Command (PCC), Brazil's most powerful prison-born criminal organization, to fraud cases involving the National Social Security Institute (INSS) and Banco Master.
Earlier Arrest
Shimada was first arrested preventively on December 27, 2024, accused of diverting R$35 million, about USD 6.4 million at recent exchange rates, from Banco Votorantim. Preventive detention in Brazil allows a suspect to be held before final judgment when a judge sees risks to public order, evidence gathering or the investigation itself.
Judge Bárbara de Lima Iseppi wrote at the time that keeping Shimada free could threaten the inquiry. Folha reports that one central concern was flight risk: Shimada had traveled to Mexico days after the alleged bank fraud in mid-September and returned only in December. The judge also cited a company he maintained in Panama, a jurisdiction often described in Brazilian legal proceedings as a tax haven.
Shimada was initially held at Federal Police headquarters and later transferred to the Pinheiros Provisional Detention Center in São Paulo. He did not remain there for long.
Habeas Corpus
On January 17, 2025, Judge Nino Toldo of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3), which hears federal appeals in São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul, granted a habeas corpus request filed by Shimada's defense. Shimada was effectively released on January 21.
Toldo held that the seizure of Shimada's passport, the search of his residence and the freezing of his assets reduced the risk of flight or repeated offenses. He also said that experience with cryptoassets and high purchasing power, both cited by Federal Police, were not enough by themselves to justify preventive detention.
After his release, Shimada wore an electronic ankle monitor and faced other restrictions, including a ban on leaving his judicial district without notifying the court.
Disappearance and New Probe
Shimada was later convicted in July 2025 over the bank diversions and sentenced to five years in prison under a semi-open regime. The sentence ordered him to report monthly to the court and removed his electronic monitor.
Months later, according to Folha, he disappeared. The newspaper says documents it obtained do not show the exact date when authorities lost track of him. In a later search-and-seizure operation tied to another drug-related case, police did not find him at his home or at other targeted addresses.
The same pattern repeated in Friday's operation. Shimada is now considered a fugitive. His defense said in a statement that it had not yet gained access to the case files from the new operation and would comment only after a full technical review.
Alleged Network
Investigators say Shimada controlled a laundering network built to serve drug trafficking. On July 1, the United States sanctioned him over alleged ties to the PCC. His former secretary, Stella Stefanie Nunes Henrique de Oliveira, was also sanctioned by the U.S. government and was arrested in Friday's operation.
According to the investigation described by Folha, the alleged structure operated through two companies: Wave Intermediações, registered in other people's names, and Victory Trading, in which Shimada is a partner. Authorities say the companies received and disguised funds of illicit origin.
Shimada's name emerged in Operation Saturno, a São Paulo Civil Police inquiry that began in 2024. Its final report, sent to court in May, says the alleged structure intersects, at least indirectly, with other major investigations in Brazil, including INSS fraud, Banco Master and Operation Carbono Oculto. Part of the alleged connection involved so-called pooled accounts used to launder money from different criminal sources, investigators say.