In a statement, the ANM said it had learned of the Federal Police operation “through the press” and that “to date, the agency has not been formally notified of any measures involving staff or leadership.” The regulator reiterated its “commitment to legality, transparency, and collaboration with the authorities, whenever formally requested, while observing due process of law and ensuring the continuity of regulatory services.”

Also arrested was Rodrigo de Melo Teixeira, former director of administrative police at the Federal Police and currently director of administration and finance at the Geological Survey of Brazil (SGB), which is linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The SGB said the allegations under investigation relate to a period before Mr. Teixeira’s appointment. The ministry declined to comment.

Mr. Teixeira has also served since last year on Petrobras’s Health, Safety, and Environment Committee, but he resigned from the position on Tuesday (17). Petrobras said it has no connection to the allegations under Operation Rejeito. “These matters are unrelated to the company’s operations and the committee’s work,” it said. Mr. Teixeira became known for initially leading the investigation into the stabbing of former President Jair Bolsonaro in Juiz de Fora (Minas Gerais) during the 2018 election campaign. He was dismissed from the Federal Police in February 2019.

At the state level, the scheme also involved officials at the Minas Gerais State Foundation for the Environment (FEAM). The state government dismissed the officials suspected of taking part in the scheme. Among them was Breno Esteves Lasmar, director-general of the State Forestry Institute (IEF) and chair of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Council (CPB). Others dismissed included Arthur Ferreira Rezende Delfim (arrested by the Federal Police) and Fernando Baliani da Silva, directors of environmental licensing at FEAM; Rodrigo Gonçalves Franco, former FEAM president; Lirriet de Freitas Libório, former head of FEAM’s Eastern Minas Gerais licensing unit; and Vitor Reis Salum Tavares, regional management director at FEAM.

According to state communications secretary Bernardo Santos, some of the dismissed officials were already under internal investigation for suspected involvement in the scheme. Administrative proceedings remain underway. Former FEAM president Rodrigo Gonçalves Franco, who was also arrested, had already been dismissed on Saturday (13) due to what the government described as his conduct within the institution, which had been “generating rumors.” The government added that “illegal actions that may have improperly influenced decisions of the State Environmental and Water Resources System may be reviewed.”

At the center of the Federal Police investigation is businessman Alan Cavalcante do Nascimento, identified as the leader of the group, responsible for managing bribe payments and financial operations. He owns 38 companies, including Global Mineração, which operates in Serra do Curral and other areas of Minas Gerais, and Gute Sicht, whose operations in Serra do Curral were suspended by the courts in January for illegal mining.

Also under investigation are Mr. Nascimento’s partners at Gute Sicht: former state lawmaker João Alberto Paixão Lages and businessman Helder Adriano de Freitas.

According to the Federal Police, Fleurs Global Mineração served as the financial hub of the operation. The group allegedly created shell companies that applied for permits to carry out earthmoving services, but in practice extracted iron ore illegally in unlicensed areas. Documents were forged to secure fraudulent mining permits.

Investigators say the group paid bribes to officials at several federal and state environmental and mining agencies, including ANM, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), FEAM, and the Minas Gerais State Secretariat for the Environment, among others. According to the Federal Police, more than R$3 million in bribes were paid.

The scheme allegedly began in 2020 and generated at least R$1.5 billion in illicit profits for the organization. Mining projects tied to the scheme that remain active are projected to yield more than R$10 billion in profits for those involved. The fraud could result in losses exceeding R$18 billion to the federal government.

The Federal Police report describes the case as “systemic corruption,” involving “a professional criminal structure” in the state that used “bribes and multiple forms of fraud” to enable illegal extraction, including in historically significant areas of Minas Gerais.

According to the investigation, the criminal organization was able to expand its operations by creating illicit mining projects, which were only possible “by co-opting authorities through the offer and payment of unlawful benefits.”

In total, authorities executed 79 search and seizure warrants and 22 pretrial detention warrants. The operation also ordered the freezing and seizure of R$1.5 billion in assets and suspended the activities of companies implicated in the scheme.

The Federal Police said pretrial arrests were necessary, in addition to other provisional remedies, because of the “degree of participation and importance” of the suspects in the criminal organization, making detention “the only way to dismantle the group and prevent ongoing offenses.” If left free, it warned, the suspects posed a “risk of destroying evidence.”

The operation was carried out jointly with the Federal Comptroller General’s Office (CGU) and supported by the Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) and the Federal Revenue.

The defense attorneys for the accused could not be reached for comment.