São Paulo state prosecutors have charged four military police officers accused of belonging to a criminal organization that provided irregular private security to directors of Transwolff, a São Paulo bus company under investigation for allegedly laundering money for the PCC, Brazil's largest criminal faction. The complaint was filed on Wednesday (26) with the state's Military Court, which tries crimes committed by military police, according to Folha de S.Paulo, and still has to be accepted before the accused formally become defendants. Prosecutors requested preventive detention for Lieutenant Colonel José Henrique Martins Flores and the continued detention of the other three officers, in custody since February.

According to the accusation, Flores ran security companies registered in the names of relatives used as fronts and ordered the issuance of false invoices to give the payments a veneer of legality. Captain Alexandre Paulino Vieira allegedly acted as the scheme's operational coordinator, recruiting the officers and negotiating directly with Transwolff directors. Sergeants Alexandre Aleixo Romano Cezário and Nereu Aparecido Alves, the latter already retired from the force, carried out armed escort and surveillance of the executives, their relatives and the company's bus depots. According to G1, the group drew on the Military Police's own training and weapons, including members of Rota, the force's elite unit.

The complaint also says Sergeant Nereu handled the scheme's financial logistics. During the investigation, police seized a suitcase containing R$1.18 million in cash at his home. Prosecutors say the officers knew about the businessmen's criminal ties and nonetheless kept the illicit services running until early 2026.

Case timeline

• February 4, 2026: the Military Police internal affairs unit launches Operation Kratos; Captain Paulino, Sergeant Romano and retired Sergeant Nereu are placed under preventive detention.
• May 2026: the internal affairs unit formally accuses the officers who provided security to Transwolff directors, according to reporting by G1.
• August 26, 2026: state prosecutors file the criminal complaint against the four officers with the São Paulo Military Court.

What the defenses say

Lawyers Mauro Ribas and Renato Soares, who represent Captain Paulino, say he "never joined, took part in or provided services to any criminal organization" and that the private security services were administered through a duly registered company. Nereu's defense says it received the complaint with "absolute surprise" and calls the accusations unfounded, especially the money laundering charge. According to lawyer Márcio Antonio Sousa Ferreira da Silva, the seized R$1.18 million belongs to businessman Ricardo Barnabé, for whom the sergeant worked, and the lawful origin of the money was documented in the case files. The defenses of Lieutenant Colonel Flores and Sergeant Romano had not commented by the time the reports were published.

The next step lies with the São Paulo Military Court, which must decide whether to accept the complaint, a move that would make the four accused formal defendants, and whether to order the preventive detention of Lieutenant Colonel Flores. No date has been set for the ruling.