São Paulo police colonel linked to WhatsApp group with inmate, R$100,000 cash exchange request, and alleged bribery payments

A São Paulo Military Police colonel has been tied by prosecutors to a WhatsApp group and to messages that, according to the investigation, pointed to cash exchanges, payments to police, and contacts with other authorities. For high-risk operators, the important bit is not the police drama itself; it is the mechanics of how cash, bank transfers, and intermediaries were allegedly used to move funds around law-enforcement pressure points.

1. In an audio recorded on 23 July 2025, a man identified as Cleber told another man, Bruno, that a client named Caio needed to exchange R$ 100 mil in bank transfer for cash. In the recording, Cleber said Caio wanted to send a TED and receive cash because he needed to pay “the police” from DEIC after “a problem.”
2. The TV Globo report says it contacted Cleber’s lawyer and the São Paulo Public Security Secretariat for comment on the audio, but received no response by publication.
3. Prosecutors say a WhatsApp group called "aniversário general", active at least until 21 November 2023, included São Paulo Military Police colonel Luiz Carlos Pereira Martins, Cléber Azevedo, described as a “companion” of Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), and Robson Martins Souza. The investigation says the group’s messages were personal and social in tone, with references to events and celebrations, but that the exchanges showed a relationship closer than occasional contact.
4. The Public Ministry also says it found records indicating the colonel Luiz Carlos Pereira Martins offered to help the suspects and to broker contacts with other authorities. Among the names mentioned in the conversations were Colonel José Augusto Coutinho, then commander of ROTA, and a colonel identified as "Patrício", who also appears in seized spreadsheets as a “client.”
5. In another conversation, according to investigators, Robson Martins Souza asked Odair Alves da Silveira Filho to pass on R$ 30 mil so a client could “pay the friends,” an expression prosecutors say was used to mean bribing public officials. Investigators also say Cléber Azevedo dos Santos asked Amjad Ahmad about balances available specifically to “pay the police.”
6. The investigation also found a note recording a cash payment of R$ 1 mil in favor of the colonel identified as "Patrício". Prosecutors say the money came from an illicit practice called "ticketagem". Based on the material collected, the judge authorized data extraction and the seizure of CPUs from computers used by civil police officers in their units, as well as searches of vehicles used by them.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banks that touch high-risk flows, this is the familiar part: alleged bribery, cash-outs, and intermediaries are the plumbing behind enforcement evasion. When a case file starts talking about transfers converted into cash, balances reserved to “pay the police,” and cash notes linked to officers, it is usually a reminder that AML controls fail first at the edges where cash, staff access, and informal settlement meet.