Messages extracted from the phones of suspects show that decisions on the purchase of fuel distributor Terrana went through Mohamad Hussein Mourad, known as "Primo", a fugitive under investigation for ties to the PCC, Brazil's largest criminal faction. The exchanges were detailed by g1 on Saturday (26), two days after the launch of the third phase of Operação Carbono Oculto, named Crédito Oculto, run by Gaeco, the organized crime task force of the São Paulo state prosecutor's office, together with Brazil's Federal Revenue Service. The phase executed search and seizure warrants at addresses tied to Banco Genial executives and to a cooperating witness in the Banco Master case.

In the exchanges, businessman Paulo Narcélio Simões do Amaral, who formally appeared as the buyer of Terrana, says a decision on the deal's terms "depende do Primo" (depends on Primo). Humberto Tupinambá, at the time a partner and director of Banco Genial, replies: "Sim, vou falar com ele" (Yes, I will talk to him). The court order that authorized the searches states that, according to the conversations, the decision maker was "Primo". Gaeco says a WhatsApp group called "Novo direção Terrana", created in late 2024 after the purchase, gathered those in charge of the distributor's financial, accounting and administrative management: Narcélio, Mohamad and three other operators, who shared documents on the corporate transaction that transferred control of the company.

The messages also record the group's discomfort when news reports began linking the acquisition to Copape, to Mohamad and to the PCC. Forwarding one of the articles to Tupinambá, Narcélio wrote "Cagada!", a crude word for blunder, and said "o primo está mais nervoso que eu" (the cousin is more nervous than I am), a reference investigators attribute to Mohamad. According to the investigation, Narcélio reported that group members were placing people under false names inside the company. The court order notes that Ioná Patrícia de Lima Andrade began using the name "Camila Junqueira" after a report linked her to the distributor.

The alleged front man

Prosecutors argue Narcélio was recruited as the formal buyer because he was a known name in the fuel sector and could pass the compliance checks required in the sale. He would receive a 0.75% commission on the transaction plus monthly pay for three months during the initial management. In one message quoted in the ruling, he speaks of "manter a imagem de que a empresa foi comprada por mim" (keeping up the image that the company was bought by me), a passage the judge highlighted when authorizing the measures. The acquisition was formalized through the holdings Berna and Branson, created in September 2024 with share capital of just 1,000 reais each, with Narcélio as the formal owner. Investigators say 100 million reais from the group moved within minutes through pass-through accounts to the Itajobi sugar mill in Marapoama, São Paulo state, were placed in the Radford fund and converted into a bank deposit certificate at Banco Genial, which then lent the same amount to the two holdings. The full deal is estimated at up to 153 million reais.

Timeline and next steps

• September 2024: Berna and Branson are created; Terrana, once among Brazil's ten largest fuel distributors, is bought.
• August 2025: first phase of Carbono Oculto; Roberto Augusto Leme da Silva, "Beto Louco", and Mohamad become fugitives, according to reporting by Estadão cited by Brasil de Fato.
• September 24, 2026: third phase, Crédito Oculto, serves warrants against 13 people and 19 companies in seven states, 26 of them in São Paulo.
• September 26, 2026: g1 details the messages behind Gaeco's suspicions.

The phase's targets include Tupinambá and his brothers, André and Bruno, and businessman Antonio Carlos Freixo Junior, known as "Mineiro", owner of Entre Investimentos and a cooperating witness of the federal prosecutor general's office in the Banco Master investigations. Entre appears in the scheme's money flow and, according to reporting by Estadão cited by Brasil de Fato, the mill used in the structure received 20 million reais from Freixo's company. Entre is the same firm banker Daniel Vorcaro allegedly used to send at least US$ 12.3 million to the US fund that financed "Dark Horse", a biopic of Jair Bolsonaro. None of those named in this phase has been indicted or convicted; Beto Louco and Mohamad, both fugitives, have presented material pointing to 400 million reais in bribes paid to politicians and officials.

In a statement, Banco Genial said Humberto Tupinambá has not been on its board or been a shareholder since May 2026, when he was removed. The investigation covers events before that date. The warrants were authorized by the 2nd Criminal Court of Catanduva, in São Paulo state, where the case runs under judicial secrecy. No date has been set for charges or for further phases of the operation.