The Judicial Police (PJ) on Thursday announced the arrest of a 55-year-old foreign citizen, heavily charged with money laundering international organized cybercrime and aiding illegal immigration.
The PJ says in a statement that the operation leading to the arrest – carried out by the National Unit to Combat Cybercrime and Technological Crime (UNC3T) in collaboration with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Loures – began early this week and concluded that, between 2020 and 2022, the detainee founded three companies in Portugal, opened bank accounts in the name of these companies and through them “began to receive large amounts of illegal origin, which to date amount to about half a million euros”.
According to the PJ, the detainee “demonstrated advanced technical knowledge, using advanced tools and resources obtained from other experienced cybercriminals who sell or rent these services, an activity that is characteristic of the crime as a service model.).
“The cybercrime underlying money laundering is undeniably linked to the ‘ modus operandi ‘ or criminal scheme known as ‘CEO Fraud’ or ‘Business Email Compromise’ (BEC Fraud)”which consists of breaking into victims’ computer systems, causing them to accidentally transfer large sums of money to these bank accounts opened in Portugal, an operation known as “money muling,” the Judiciária explains.
The investigation, which is still ongoing, has concluded that the victims so far are foreign companies and natural persons.
The detainee will be present at the first judicial hearing, by an investigating judge, for the application of coercive measures.
Source: DN
