Before being number 1 of the First Command of the Capital (PCC) on the streets, Marcos Roberto de Almeida, known as Tuta, worked as a commercial attaché at the Consulate of Mozambique in Minas Gerais, at the time, he was on the run. Tuta held the role from July 2018 to July 2019.
Last Tuesday (27), he was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the 1st Court of Tax Crimes, Criminal Organization and Laundering of Goods and Valuables of the Capital, for criminal association and money laundering.
According to Deusdete Januário Gonçalves, former honorary consul of the Republic of Mozambique in Minas Gerais, who stated that he was unaware of Tuta's links with crime, he was “a man of great suitability” and “performed his role correctly”. The statement appears in the process where Tuta and three other members of the PCC, accused of laundering R$1 billion from the faction, arising from international drug trafficking.
Tuta, according to the testimony, presented his background sheet to the Federal Court and the Minas Gerais Court, before being hired.
With the subpoena of the former consul to speak as a witness in Tuta's defense, he removed him from the consulate's staff.
After being fired, with Marcola isolated in the federal prison system, he was appointed as the immediate replacement for the PCC's top leader.
In addition to Tuta, the following were convicted:
- Odair Lopes Mazzi Júnior, Dezinho: sentence of 16 years and 11 months
- Robson Sampaio de Lima, the Shark: sentence of 16 years and 11 months
- Eduardo Aparecido de Almeida, the Flasher: sentence of 12 years and six months
Judge Leonardo Valente Barreiros highlighted that the four convicted on Tuesday laundered the PCC's money through the “cable dollar” scheme, a well-known money laundering and currency evasion technique, which involves carrying out an exchange operation, aiming to exit of currency abroad, without legal authorization.
The judge also highlights that, even when imprisoned in Penitentiary 2 of Presidente Venceslau, in the interior of São Paulo, the PCC bosses would still be responsible for crimes, such as drug and weapons trafficking, attacks against public agents and active corruption.
Expulsion from the PCC
After being expelled from the PCC, for ordering, in 2021, the death of Nadim Georges Hanna Awad Neto, known as Nadim, Tuta had his death announced by the MP due to the death order of his former faction brother.
The reason for the murder would be for failing to fulfill the mission of rescuing leaders of the criminal organization held since February 2019 in federal penitentiaries, especially in the prisons of Brasília (DF) and Porto Velho (RO).
Soon after, the MP-SP made public a “hail” from the PCC, where the organization reported that Tuta had not been murdered, but rather expelled from the organization under accusations of “misconduct” and “lack of responsibility”.
The “save” was released on April 26, 2022, spreading throughout the São Paulo prison system. The message said that “Tuta was in his fight in communication with the PCC, unlike what the media was reporting”.
Outlaw
Even with the “hail” in which the PCC said that Tuta had not been killed, investigators believe that he was tried and killed by the “crime court”, but the body was never found.
However, according to the prosecutor's office, Tuta is alive and there are suspicions that he is in Bolivia.
Officially, he is considered a fugitive.
Source: CNN Brasil
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