Operation Car Wash could become even more devastating

</p> <p>Of course, that was in great part due to the early <a href="https://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/doleiro-diz-ter-aberto-mao-da-taxa-de-sucesso-de-sua-delacao-na-lava-jato-22404645">collaboration</a> of Alberto Yousseff. The money launderer sought to cut down his years in jail by pointing the finger at the powerful men who benefited from his services. And this explains why the latest Operation Car Wash phase, announced yesterday, is so significant.</p> <p>Federal marshals carried out arrest orders against 53 people who ran money-laundering schemes. They are known as <em>doleiros</em> – black market money dealers – and are suspected of operating over USD 1.6 billion in dirty money across 52 countries, siphoned away from Brazil’s public administration.</p> <p>One of the targets is Dario Messer, a man on Interpol’s red notice list who is also known as the <em>“doleiro de doleiros”</em> –or the money launderer of money launderers. Since the early 1990s, he has been on the police’s radar – but that hasn’t stopped him from operating his <a href="https://brazilian.report/2018/04/13/operation-car-wash-latin-america/">corrupt schemes from Paraguay</a>, where he enjoys a close friendship with the country’s president, Horacio Cartes.</p> <h3>Whenever there’s a scandal …</h3> <p>… Messer’s name is mentioned. Federal prosecutors believe that he has laundered over BRL 1 billion between 1998 and 2003. It was in 2003 that his name first became known to law enforcement. He was one of the <em>doleiros</em> of a corruption scheme that took place within Paraná’s State Bank (Banestado) in that same year. However, the main focus of that scandal was Alberto Yousseff.</p> <p>During the <em>mensalão</em> scandal, a bribery scheme within Congress that nearly destroyed Lula’s presidency in 2005, Messer was again cited. He is suspected of laundering dozens of millions of dollars through shell companies in Panama. His name even popped up in the <a href="https://brazilian.report/2018/05/02/swiss-leaks-brazil-federal-police/">Swiss Leaks</a> scandal.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-3999"><img loading="lazy" width="699" height="420" src="https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/xdario-messer.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.-loSDX2rLZ.jpg" alt="Dario Messer, Operation Car Wash new target" class="wp-image-3999" srcset="https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/xdario-messer.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.-loSDX2rLZ.jpg 699w, https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/xdario-messer.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.-loSDX2rLZ-300x180.jpg 300w, https://brazilian.report/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/xdario-messer.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.-loSDX2rLZ-610x367.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 699px) 100vw, 699px" /><figcaption>Operation Car Wash now targets Dario Messer</figcaption></figure> <p>Messer is such a prominent figure in the money laundering business that he has become a sort of broker for other money launderers, vouching for them and guaranteeing many of their operations. He was, if you will, a kind of “central bank for illegal money traders.” That’s why he is believed to have involvement – at least indirectly – in thousands of illegal operations.</p> <p>Another star of the money-laundering sector is Marco Matalon, also targeted in yesterday’s operation. Matalon is known as the “<em>doleiro</em> of the stars.” He and Messer have enjoyed the friendship of high-profile politicians and even celebrities, like former footballer Ronaldo – a confirmed <em>habitué</em> at Messer’s lavish parties in Rio de Janeiro.</p> <p>Now, both will find out whether their powerful connections can help them evade the legal system.</p> <p>A good way of escaping harsher sentences would be to follow in the footsteps of Alberto Yousseff, as he opened up Pandora’s box with his plea bargains in 2014. Matalon and Messer, however, have the power to blow up most of Brazil’s political establishment.</p> <p>A close friend of Matalon, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said: “If he talks, there will be no stone left unturned.”