Deolane arrested: case brings renowned prosecutor and lawyer face to face

The arrest of Deolane Bezerra brought two of the best-known names in the Brazilian criminal system face to face: prosecutor Lincoln Gakiya, the main name in the fight against the PCC in Brazil, and criminal lawyer Aury Lopes Jr., one of the biggest references in criminal law in the country.

Deolane is being investigated in an investigation conducted by the Civil Police and Gaeco (Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime) of Presidente Prudente, from the Public Ministry of São Paulo.

According to investigators, the case uncovers an alleged money laundering structure attributed to the Primeiro Comando da Capital, using companies and asset movements to insert resources into the formal economy. The investigations are ongoing and the allegations are yet to be analyzed by the courts.

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Criminalist Aury Lopes Jr., and prosecutor Lincoln Gakiya - Reproduction

Who is Lincoln Gakiya
Gakiya is a prosecutor at Gaeco (Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime) in Presidente Prudente. He is one of the main names in the fight against the PCC in the country and has been involved in investigations linked to the criminal faction for years.

Gakiya was one of those responsible for transferring the top leadership of Brazil's largest criminal organization to maximum security prisons.

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In February 2019, Marco Willians Herbas Camacho, known as Marcola and considered the biggest leader of the PCC, was one of 22 members of the faction to be transferred.

Deolane has been involved in laundering organized crime money since 2022, says Gakiya | CNN 360°

This was one of the most recent actions that the prosecutor participated in. The operation took place after the Public Ministry discovered a plan by the PCC to rescue the main leaders of the faction imprisoned in penitentiary 2 in Presidente Venceslau. Gakiya was the one who made the transfer request.

In addition, letters were found inside prison cells in which plans to attack public authorities were mentioned. The actions would be a way of retaliating against the movements against the PCC. The prosecutor was among the targets.

In the case involving Deolane Bezerra, Gakiya told CNN Brasil that she represents a "new face of the PCC". "She is not a baptized member of the PCC, but she is a fundamental player for the faction and for faction leaders to use these people to launder money [...] In her case [Deolane], private accounts were used illegally to hide money", he highlighted.

Read also: Investigation points to transactions between Deolane and Marcola's sister-in-law

Who is Aury Lopes Jr.
Aury Lopes Jr.'s entry into Deolane's defense placed one of the country's best-known criminalists at the center of the case.

With activities divided between criminal law and academic production, Aury built a career marked by the defense of a constitutional and guarantor reading of the criminal process, a line that appears both in his professional work and in his books and academic works.

Graduated in Law from the Federal University of Rio Grande in 1991, the lawyer followed an academic path focused on criminal law and criminal proceedings.

See the full profile here.

He completed his specialization in Law in 1993 and, years later, completed a doctorate in Criminal Procedural Law at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, with a thesis on preliminary investigation systems in criminal proceedings. The work received maximum marks and a unanimous vote of praise (cum laude).

Since 2000, he became a full professor in the postgraduate program in Criminal Sciences at PUC-RS (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul), where he worked on specialization, master's and doctorate courses. He was also a guest professor in postgraduate programs in Brazil and abroad.

The investigation
Deolane was preventively arrested in Operation Vérnix, an investigation conducted by the Civil Police and Gaeco, from the Public Ministry of São Paulo.

She is imprisoned in the Tupi Paulista Women's Penitentiary, in the interior of the state.

According to investigators, the case investigates an alleged money laundering structure attributed to the PCC, using companies and asset movements to insert resources into the formal economy.

The investigations are still ongoing and the allegations must be analyzed by the Court, with the right to full defense.

Deolane's defense
When contacted, Deolane's defense stated that the influencer "knows a lot of people and circulates in many media", but that this cannot be interpreted as an element of criminal liability.

"Deolane is a public figure who really knows a lot of people, circulates in many circles and this cannot be criminalized in any way. Her activities are all lawful activities, all the values are declared. We have not yet had space or time in this investigation to explain the values attributed to her because she was never called to the police to provide any clarification. We will have to do this, then, within the process. Regarding the amounts received at the beginning of the investigation, which are mentioned at the beginning of the investigation, they concern fees perfectly legal lawyers and that she will explain during the process. The problem is that the investigation, after this payment, back in 2020, investigates her personal and professional life and that of her family and mixes values arising from her activity as a businesswoman, as an influencer, mixes everything and attributes a legal origin. Why? opportunity in the course of this investigation, which has been open for four years and which is only now a totally unnecessary, untimely, absolutely illegal arrest. So, everything will be explained at its moment in the process.

From Deolane to Ryan: Understand how money laundering works

Source: CNN