Luxury car ended up in a store on the coast of SC and exposed a police plot of embezzlement and money laundering
A Ferrari valued at R$ 4 million, pointed out as a unique example in Brazil, has become the pivot of a complex legal and police dispute, revealed the BNews portal. Businessman Leonardo Vasconcelos Rodrigues, original owner of the super sports car, denounces having been the victim of a scam in the sale of the vehicle, which ended up in the hands of a target of Operation Integration — the same one that investigated digital influencer Deolane Bezerra in 2024.
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The transaction took place with Carlos Eduardo Nascimento Barbosa, an operator in the luxury watch market. To close the deal, he offered as payment a designer watch, allegedly valued at R$ 2.5 million, and three checks for R$ 600 thousand. The farce collapsed when Rodrigues submitted the accessory to a technical expertise, whose official report attested to the forgery.
In a statement to the Civil Police, the buyer confessed to embezzlement. He admitted that the checks passed on had no provision of funds and that he was fully aware of the falsity of the piece, justifying the crime by facing a severe financial crisis.
The deepening of the investigation revealed that Ferrari was quickly passed on to Boris Maciel Padilha. The car was tracked and seized by the authorities inside a store in Itapema, on the coast of Santa Catarina. With the developments, Barbosa was indicted for embezzlement, while Padilha was investigated on suspicion of participating in the fraud.
The case gains relevance due to the history of the new owner of the vehicle. Padilha is already responsible for money laundering within the scope of Operation Integration. Although the Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a favorable opinion for the immediate return of the car to Rodrigues, the Court determined that the property remains provisionally with Padilha. The defense maintains that he is innocent and that he acquired the vehicle in a legal exchange for authentic watches. With no outcome in the courts, the original owner is still waiting for compensation while trying to reverse the millionaire loss.
