Banco Central Burglary

Crew establishes the synthetic-turf front

The group rented 1071 Rua 25 de Março and presented it as P.S. de Souza Grama Sintética. The functioning storefront explained deliveries, soil and continuous activity while shielding preparations.

Crew tunnels into the vault and removes R$164,755,150

From Friday night into Saturday morning, the burglars completed the breach through the vault floor and moved approximately 3.5 tonnes of circulated R$50 notes back through the tunnel. The exact minute-by-minute operation was not established publicly, so the sequence distinguishes documented physical findings and court evidence from later reconstruction.

1. After the branch had closed for the weekend, the underground crew made the final approach from the synthetic-turf property through the reinforced, illuminated tunnel.
2. At the bank end, the crew completed the upward breach through approximately 1.10 metres of steel-reinforced concrete beneath the cash vault.
3. Burglars entered through the opening in the vault floor. The operation was a burglary of a closed facility: no employees or guards were confronted inside the vault.
4. The crew concentrated on circulated R$50 notes whose serial numbers had not been individually recorded, leaving large quantities of new or otherwise less useful currency behind.
5. The selected cash was bundled for removal. The final haul weighed about 3.5 tonnes, requiring repeated movement rather than a single trip through the confined passage.
6. Teams relayed the money through the roughly 78-metre tunnel to 1071 Rua 25 de Março. A later police reconstruction took about 45 minutes simply to traverse the passage once, illustrating the logistical scale of the removal.
7. Court records state that a Volkswagen Kombi carried money from the tunnel property to a house associated with Antônio Edimar, where cash was placed in a prepared hiding place.
8. The participants cleared the front property and began dividing and moving the proceeds. Because the bank remained closed, the breached vault would not be discovered until Monday morning.

Cash and participants disperse from Fortaleza

Prosecutors said part of the money was sent to São Paulo as commercial-airline baggage while participants also left by air and road. Airport images and later financial transactions helped investigators reconstruct the movement.

Antônio Jussivan and Marcos Rogério are convicted

A federal judge imposed 49-year, two-month sentences for qualified theft and connected offenses. Appellate proceedings later reduced both terms to 35 years and ten months.

Crew tunnels into the vault and removes R$164,755,150

From Friday night into Saturday morning, the burglars completed the breach through the vault floor and moved approximately 3.5 tonnes of circulated R$50 notes back through the tunnel. The exact minute-by-minute operation was not established publicly, so the sequence distinguishes documented physical findings and court evidence from later reconstruction.

1. After the branch had closed for the weekend, the underground crew made the final approach from the synthetic-turf property through the reinforced, illuminated tunnel.
2. At the bank end, the crew completed the upward breach through approximately 1.10 metres of steel-reinforced concrete beneath the cash vault.
3. Burglars entered through the opening in the vault floor. The operation was a burglary of a closed facility: no employees or guards were confronted inside the vault.
4. The crew concentrated on circulated R$50 notes whose serial numbers had not been individually recorded, leaving large quantities of new or otherwise less useful currency behind.
5. The selected cash was bundled for removal. The final haul weighed about 3.5 tonnes, requiring repeated movement rather than a single trip through the confined passage.
6. Teams relayed the money through the roughly 78-metre tunnel to 1071 Rua 25 de Março. A later police reconstruction took about 45 minutes simply to traverse the passage once, illustrating the logistical scale of the removal.
7. Court records state that a Volkswagen Kombi carried money from the tunnel property to a house associated with Antônio Edimar, where cash was placed in a prepared hiding place.
8. The participants cleared the front property and began dividing and moving the proceeds. Because the bank remained closed, the breached vault would not be discovered until Monday morning.

Luís Fernando Ribeiro is kidnapped and killed

Men posing as police abducted Ribeiro in São Paulo. Although a ransom was reportedly paid, his body was found the next day near Camanducaia and identified later that month.

Round-the-clock tunnel excavation begins

Working in shifts, the crew excavated a narrow passage more than 75 metres long beneath central Fortaleza. Timber reinforcement, lighting, ventilation and cooling allowed sustained underground work.

Crew tunnels into the vault and removes R$164,755,150

From Friday night into Saturday morning, the burglars completed the breach through the vault floor and moved approximately 3.5 tonnes of circulated R$50 notes back through the tunnel. The exact minute-by-minute operation was not established publicly, so the sequence distinguishes documented physical findings and court evidence from later reconstruction.

1. After the branch had closed for the weekend, the underground crew made the final approach from the synthetic-turf property through the reinforced, illuminated tunnel.
2. At the bank end, the crew completed the upward breach through approximately 1.10 metres of steel-reinforced concrete beneath the cash vault.
3. Burglars entered through the opening in the vault floor. The operation was a burglary of a closed facility: no employees or guards were confronted inside the vault.
4. The crew concentrated on circulated R$50 notes whose serial numbers had not been individually recorded, leaving large quantities of new or otherwise less useful currency behind.
5. The selected cash was bundled for removal. The final haul weighed about 3.5 tonnes, requiring repeated movement rather than a single trip through the confined passage.
6. Teams relayed the money through the roughly 78-metre tunnel to 1071 Rua 25 de Março. A later police reconstruction took about 45 minutes simply to traverse the passage once, illustrating the logistical scale of the removal.
7. Court records state that a Volkswagen Kombi carried money from the tunnel property to a house associated with Antônio Edimar, where cash was placed in a prepared hiding place.
8. The participants cleared the front property and began dividing and moving the proceeds. Because the bank remained closed, the breached vault would not be discovered until Monday morning.

Federal Police arrest Moisés Teixeira da Silva

Agents arrested the alleged tunnel specialist in Vila Mariana after more than a year of surveillance, closing one of the investigation's most prominent outstanding manhunts.

Crew tunnels into the vault and removes R$164,755,150

From Friday night into Saturday morning, the burglars completed the breach through the vault floor and moved approximately 3.5 tonnes of circulated R$50 notes back through the tunnel. The exact minute-by-minute operation was not established publicly, so the sequence distinguishes documented physical findings and court evidence from later reconstruction.

1. After the branch had closed for the weekend, the underground crew made the final approach from the synthetic-turf property through the reinforced, illuminated tunnel.
2. At the bank end, the crew completed the upward breach through approximately 1.10 metres of steel-reinforced concrete beneath the cash vault.
3. Burglars entered through the opening in the vault floor. The operation was a burglary of a closed facility: no employees or guards were confronted inside the vault.
4. The crew concentrated on circulated R$50 notes whose serial numbers had not been individually recorded, leaving large quantities of new or otherwise less useful currency behind.
5. The selected cash was bundled for removal. The final haul weighed about 3.5 tonnes, requiring repeated movement rather than a single trip through the confined passage.
6. Teams relayed the money through the roughly 78-metre tunnel to 1071 Rua 25 de Março. A later police reconstruction took about 45 minutes simply to traverse the passage once, illustrating the logistical scale of the removal.
7. Court records state that a Volkswagen Kombi carried money from the tunnel property to a house associated with Antônio Edimar, where cash was placed in a prepared hiding place.
8. The participants cleared the front property and began dividing and moving the proceeds. Because the bank remained closed, the breached vault would not be discovered until Monday morning.

Cash and participants disperse from Fortaleza

Prosecutors said part of the money was sent to São Paulo as commercial-airline baggage while participants also left by air and road. Airport images and later financial transactions helped investigators reconstruct the movement.

Antônio Jussivan and Marcos Rogério are convicted

A federal judge imposed 49-year, two-month sentences for qualified theft and connected offenses. Appellate proceedings later reduced both terms to 35 years and ten months.

Round-the-clock tunnel excavation begins

Working in shifts, the crew excavated a narrow passage more than 75 metres long beneath central Fortaleza. Timber reinforcement, lighting, ventilation and cooling allowed sustained underground work.

Crew tunnels into the vault and removes R$164,755,150

From Friday night into Saturday morning, the burglars completed the breach through the vault floor and moved approximately 3.5 tonnes of circulated R$50 notes back through the tunnel. The exact minute-by-minute operation was not established publicly, so the sequence distinguishes documented physical findings and court evidence from later reconstruction.

1. After the branch had closed for the weekend, the underground crew made the final approach from the synthetic-turf property through the reinforced, illuminated tunnel.
2. At the bank end, the crew completed the upward breach through approximately 1.10 metres of steel-reinforced concrete beneath the cash vault.
3. Burglars entered through the opening in the vault floor. The operation was a burglary of a closed facility: no employees or guards were confronted inside the vault.
4. The crew concentrated on circulated R$50 notes whose serial numbers had not been individually recorded, leaving large quantities of new or otherwise less useful currency behind.
5. The selected cash was bundled for removal. The final haul weighed about 3.5 tonnes, requiring repeated movement rather than a single trip through the confined passage.
6. Teams relayed the money through the roughly 78-metre tunnel to 1071 Rua 25 de Março. A later police reconstruction took about 45 minutes simply to traverse the passage once, illustrating the logistical scale of the removal.
7. Court records state that a Volkswagen Kombi carried money from the tunnel property to a house associated with Antônio Edimar, where cash was placed in a prepared hiding place.
8. The participants cleared the front property and began dividing and moving the proceeds. Because the bank remained closed, the breached vault would not be discovered until Monday morning.

Five arrests yield roughly R$12.25 million

Federal Police arrested five men at a Fortaleza property, recovered about R$12.25 million and obtained admissions concerning the tunnel work. The operation also sharpened the focus on the alleged organisers.

Members of the network try to charter an aircraft

Three days before the burglary, witnesses identified men linked to the later proceeds network attempting to rent an aircraft. The federal appellate record treated this as evidence of advance planning for rapid movement after the theft, although the attempted charter was not itself proof that cash ultimately travelled on that plane.

Vehicle purchases lead to an early R$6 million recovery

Investigators linked a bulk cash purchase of eleven vehicles to José Charles Machado de Morais. Police intercepted the transporter and found R$6 million concealed in three cars.

Crew establishes the synthetic-turf front

The group rented 1071 Rua 25 de Março and presented it as P.S. de Souza Grama Sintética. The functioning storefront explained deliveries, soil and continuous activity while shielding preparations.