Minister Messod Azulay Neto of the Supreme Court (STJ) accepted habeas corpus and last Thursday (22) ordered the release of Juínabased businessman Mateus Felipe de Matos, known as “Xuxu”.
It must be recognized that maintaining a custodial sentence would constitute genuine anticipation of punishment in the absence of the necessary conditions for a custodial sentence
He had been on the run since April when federal police launched Operation Itamarã to combat illegal gemstone mining and trafficking, which led to arrests in Brazil, the United States and England. “Xuxu” was arrested in Cuiabá on the 18th as he was leaving a restaurant.
The operation dismantled a suspected international criminal organization accused of moving BRL 30 million across 10 countries through the exploitation, brokering, trafficking and illegal export of rough diamonds and gold.
The arrest warrants were fulfilled in Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Minas Gerais and São Paulo and in the Federal District. Precautionary measures were also observed in the USA, Belgium, England and the United Arab Emirates (more on this below).
The businessman from Mato Grosso is accused of being one of the group’s suppliers. On him federal agents found photos of gold, diamonds and other precious stones, as well as a large amount of cash, firearms and information about the R$1.6 million purchase of an airplane.
In the habeas corpus, attorney Vinícius Segatto alleged that ordering the arrest was an unlawful embarrassment and claimed there was no reason to justify it.
Items and jewelry confiscated in an operation against illegal trade in precious stones Photo: Disclosure/Polícia Federal de Piracicaba
“There is at no time even a specific reason why the substitution of another interim measure for imprisonment would not be appropriate in the present case, which constitutes a total violation of the definitions of Article 93, IX of the Federal Constitution and the Code of Criminal Procedure.” , says an excerpt from habeas corpus.
The minister complied with the solicitor’s request, implying that maintaining this prison would constitute genuine “anticipation of punishment”. Of the seven arrested in the operation, only “Xuxu” was released.
“Of course, the seriousness of the patient’s alleged conduct is not downplayed, but it must be recognized that in the absence of the necessary conditions for preventive detention, maintaining it would constitute genuine anticipation of punishment,” stressed the STJ.
“Thus, I grant the injunction to replace the patient’s preventive detention with various precautionary measures provided for in Article 319 of the CPP, to be imposed by a firstdegree judgment,” he ruled.
The Minister’s decision is of a technical nature and respects the parameters required by criminal law
Segatto stressed that the minister’s decision was of a technical nature and respected the parameters required by criminal law. “In addition to aligning with the majority understanding of the STJ. We noted the flaws in the decision of the court of origin, which did not even remotely justify the preventive decree,” he said.
The operation
A total of 42 search and seizure warrants and eight preventive arrest warrants were served by the 2nd Federal Court of Piracicaba (SP).
Investigations began in the second half of 2020, when information received by the Federal Police Intelligence Service in Piracicaba indicated the existence of a criminal organization engaged in irregular mineral extraction, skilled acceptance and precious stone smuggling.
The group operated in several countries and made millionaire transactions.
Negotiations have been conducted with people in the countries of China, England, Belgium, United Arab Emirates, United States, Singapore, France, Canada, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, Spain, Sierra Leone and Switzerland and the structured performance in Brazilian language territory in several states of the Federation.
The means used include opening companies with the specific purpose of issuing false invoices in order to deceive control authorities, and coopting legitimate companies registered with the National Registry of Rough Diamonds (CNCD) to issue false documents and enable stones to be shipped abroad.
Those involved are responsible for crimes against the economic order, criminal organizations and other crimes identified in the course of the investigation, the maximum sentences for which can be up to more than 30 years in prison.