Translated by Brian Schwarz
Originally published Thursday, December 10, 2009 in "FolhaOnline" (folha.com.br) under the heading Polícia prende mais dois suspeitos de oferecer falso emprego nos EUA by André Monteiro
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - Sao Paulo civil police captured two more suspected members of a gang accused of fraudulantly providing temporary visas for work in the United States. The two have been fugitives since the Public Ministry discovered the plot and on Monday took 11 suspects into custody. The gang left some 9,000 victims in its wake and laundered approximately 90,000 Reals (about $51,000) over seven years.
Sean Michael Michele, 29, was arrested Tuesday in front of his home, in the region of Penha, in Sao Paulo’s eastern zone. According to the chief delegate of Garulhos Airport, Carlos Alberto Mezher, as an American citizen Michele was responsible for creating a bridge between companies in Brazil and in the United States. “He traveled several times per year between the two countries, Mezher said. Michele was living in Brazil and was registered as a foreign resident in the country, the delegate said.
Michele was taken to the 1st Police District in Guarulhos while police awaited an opening to transfer him to the city’s Provisional Detention Center.
Another suspect, Rodrigo Dozzi Calza, was detained Thursday at the entrance to a university in Liberdade, in the central region of Sao Paulo. Calza is from Brazil's upper class and lived in the region of Jardins, a noble region in city's the western zone.
The crime was also detected in countries such as Russia, the Dominican Republic, the Philipines, Romania, and the United Arab Emerites, but the fraud in these countries was not part of the investigation. Five of the 18 people formally accused of larceny and forming the gang called Operation Anarchy remain at large.
According to a police spokesperson, three of the accused are Brazilians thought to be living in the United States.
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