FINANCIAL CRIMES

Going after the most chronic tax debtor of all

Federal Revenue agents during Thursday’s raid of Refit’s refinery. Photo: FRS

In a massive operation launched on Thursday, over 600 Brazilian law enforcement agents raided offices, warehouses and homes linked to Refit, a privately owned oil refinery in Rio de Janeiro that has become Brazil’s most emblematic and persistent tax debtor. 

The operation targets what authorities describe as a vast scheme of tax fraud and money laundering that allegedly moved more than BRL 70 billion (USD 13 billion) between 2024 and 2025, while leaving an estimated BRL 26 billion hole in the public coffers. At the center is…

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