Rio Court Declares Bankruptcy of Manguinhos Refinery Group

A commercial court in Rio de Janeiro on Monday declared the bankruptcy of Refinaria de Petróleos Manguinhos and three related companies, placing the group’s assets under judicial administration amid mounting tax debt and allegations of structured tax fraud.

The ruling by Rio’s 5th Business Court covers Gasdiesel Serviços, MG Distribuidora, Manguinhos Química and Refinaria de Petróleos Manguinhos, commonly known as Refit. The decision converted the group’s ongoing judicial reorganization — Brazil’s court-supervised process for companies seeking protection from creditors — into bankruptcy.

The state government had requested the conversion in July, arguing that the group had lost economic viability and failed to meet basic requirements for remaining in reorganization. According to data from Brazil’s Finance Ministry cited by O Globo, the group’s total liabilities exceed R$52 billion (roughly USD 9.5 billion, an approximate conversion), including more than R$25.7 billion (about USD 4.7 billion) in tax debt.

Falling Revenue and Frozen Accounts

Acting Judge Arthur Eduardo Magalhães Ferreira said the companies’ gross revenue fell sharply from October 2025 onward. The group reported gross revenue of R$100.3 million (approximately USD 18 million) during the period and recorded no gross revenue in the first quarter of 2026, according to the ruling.

The judge kept Preservar Administração Judicial as the court-appointed administrator. The firm is represented by Bruno Rezende, who also oversees the bankruptcy proceedings involving telecommunications company Oi.

The court ordered the companies to submit a named list of creditors within five days. It also froze their bank accounts and requested their five most recent income-tax returns, as well as declarations related to real-estate transactions.

The decision says the measures are intended to prevent the dissipation of assets while the court assesses how they can be sold. Ferreira recommended evaluating the refinery complex as a whole or as a productive unit, rather than selling each asset separately, to preserve its combined economic value and attract more potential buyers.

Tax-Fraud Investigation

The ruling makes serious allegations about the group’s business model. The judge wrote that Refit and affiliated companies had allegedly relied on repeated tax evasion, structured tax fraud, concealment of assets and deliberate economic depletion to avoid paying taxes. Those assertions are part of the court’s decision and have not been independently established by the bankruptcy ruling itself.

Refit was targeted in November 2025 by Operation Poço de Lobato, a joint investigation by Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service and prosecutors in five states into suspected fraud in the fuel industry. Authorities issued 126 search-and-seizure warrants against individuals and companies linked to the group.

São Paulo prosecutors said the suspected scheme generated more than R$26 billion in registered tax debts, or roughly USD 4.8 billion at an approximate recent exchange rate. Investigators cited suspected offenses against the economic and tax systems, money laundering and related crimes. Authorities also froze R$10.2 billion in assets — about USD 1.9 billion — including real estate and vehicles, while Brazil’s federal tax attorney’s office sought to restrict access to a further R$1.2 billion.

The Rio judge said the state’s overdue tax claims already exceed R$80 million, roughly USD 15 million, and warned that continued restrictions on tax enforcement could leave the state unable to preserve its ability to recover larger debts while other authorities pursue the group’s assets. This article is based on single-source reporting from O Globo.