Alexandre Pires and businessman are targeted by the PF over mining on Yanomami lands

Singer Alexandre Pires and his manager, Matheus Possebon, are being investigated by the Federal Police (PF) on suspicion of involvement in illegal mining on indigenous lands. Addresses linked to the artist and the agent were searched this Monday, 4th, in Operação Disco de Ouro.

The singer would have received, according to the investigation, at least R$1 million from a mining company under investigation. The businessman is suspected of financing mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land. Possebon would be one of those “responsible for the financial core of the crimes”, points out the PF.

Alexandre Pires was successful in the early 1990s with the pagode group Só Pra Contrariar. Ten years later, he decided to go solo. The singer has sold more than 18 million records.

The investigation was opened after the Federal Police seized, in January 2022, almost 30 tons of illegally extracted cassiterite at the headquarters of one of the suspected companies. The shipment would be sent abroad.

Cassiterite is found in rough rock form. It is usually sold in the form of a concentrated powder, obtained after the mining process. It is also useful for extracting tin

The PF claims that those under investigation had set up a scheme to give the appearance of legality to the mining. The cassiterite would be extracted in the Yanomami territory, in Roraima, but declared on paper as originating from the Tapajós River.

Throughout the investigation, the Federal Police identified a network of people and companies involved in the operation of fraud.

“Financial transactions were identified that would relate the entire production chain of the scheme, with the presence of aircraft pilots, gas stations, machinery and equipment stores for mining and oranges to cover up fraudulent movements”, says the statement released by the PF

This Monday, police officers served two arrest warrants and six search and seizure warrants in Boa Vista (RR), Mucajaí (RR), São Paulo (SP), Santos (SP), Santarém (PA), Uberlândia (MG) and Itapema ( SC). The Federal Court also authorized the freezing of up to R$130 million in the assets of those being investigated.

The next stage of the investigation will be to analyze the material seized in the operation.

WITH THE WORD, ALEXANDRE PIRES AND MATHEUS POSSEBON

The report contacted the singer’s advisors, who said they would send a note, but the position was not forwarded until the publication of this text. The space is open for manifestation.