A man suspected of several crimes, such as aggravated forgery, qualified fraud and money laundering, was arrested on Wednesday in Lisbon by the Southern Directorate of the Judicial Police and will be placed in preventive detention, it was announced this Thursday.
A statement from the Judicial Police (SP) said the 27-year-old man was suspected of belonging to a group “whose transnational criminal activity” involved creating companies using several fictitious names, “on behalf of which he opened dozens of accounts in Portuguese credit institutions.
“After the accounts were opened, large sums of money were transferred to them, obtained illegally, namely using schemes commonly known as ‘man in the middle’ or ‘CEO fraud’,” the police said.
A man-in-the-middle attack is a form of cyber attack in which data exchanged between two parties is intercepted, recorded, and modified without the victim’s knowledge.
“CEO scams” are a form of fraud that involves sending “emails,” text messages, or attachments in which the attacker, posing as someone affiliated with a target organization, makes requests to wire money to employees of that organization into their bank accounts.
According to the Accounts Chamber, the detainee, “after concealing the illegal origin of the funds received,” transferred the funds to other accounts, “giving them the appearance of legality under the guise of the alleged activities of companies created at that time, receiving interest.” from the transactions completed.”
During the investigation launched by the Southern Directorate of the SP, “important evidence was seized,” the criminal police emphasize.
According to the SP, the arrest followed an investigation by the Faro Criminal Investigation Department (DIAP), which led to the arrest of another man in December 2023.
The man, currently detained in the Lisbon region, was questioned in a first judicial interrogation and was placed in preventive detention, the most serious coercive measure, the SP added.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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