Scam involving fake Luís Castro reaches court in Porto Alegre | OneFootball

The Rio Grande do Sul courts have moved forward in the case of the man accused of posing as Luís Castro, former Grêmio coach, to scam players. Judge Paulo Augusto Oliveira Irion, of the 13th Criminal Court of Porto Alegre, accepted the complaint against the suspect last Tuesday, the 29th.

RTI Esporte Agency learned that the man used fake profiles to impersonate Luís Castro and approach players. Four Grêmio players received messages from a number registered in the coach’s name and using his photo.

The suspect was placed in pretrial detention by the Civil Police on September 2 in Itaperuna, Rio de Janeiro, as the investigation progressed. He faces allegations of electronic fraud and criminal association.

Player reportedly transferred more than R$ 20,000

One of the incidents under investigation involved a request for money presented to the athletes as a social initiative in Rio de Janeiro. According to the investigation, the suspect claimed the funds would be used to buy 300 food baskets.

One Grêmio player is said to have believed the request and made a Pix transfer of more than R$ 20,000. The transaction receipt was considered by the judge to be one of the elements in the case showing material evidence of the facts and indications of authorship.

The case, however, may not have been limited to the Porto Alegre team’s squad. According to the investigation, players and other people linked to different clubs in Brazilian football were also approached by the suspect.

Two other people are also defendants in the case

In addition to the arrested man, two other women are also defendants in the same case. According to the prosecution, they are being investigated for alleged involvement in crimes related to providing bank accounts used as fronts and criminal association.

The investigation is also looking into the use of third-party accounts to trace the amounts and transactions tied to the alleged fraud. The acceptance of the complaint allows the criminal case to proceed, but it does not amount to a conviction.

Investigation began after the approaches

The first suspicions arose after four Grêmio players were contacted by the same phone number. The contact used Luís Castro’s image and was registered with information attributed to the coach.

The Civil Police investigated the origin of the messages and the financial transactions linked to the requests for money. With the complaint accepted, the case continues in the Porto Alegre courts for the next procedural stages.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.