Just days after the Supreme Court rejected his citizenship appeal, Brazilian authorities have arrested Carlos Wanzeler.
Things are moving far more quickly than anticipated.
Wanzeler (right) was arrested on Thursday, during what appears to be a family visit to Rio de Janeiro.
The Gazette quotes Wanzeler’s Brazilian lawyer, Rafael Lima, as stating Wanzeler was “surprised” by the arrest.
Federal Police executed Wanzeler’s arrest warrant at the behest of the Federal Supreme Court, acting on a warrant issued in the US.
The next step is for the Foreign Ministry to report the arrest of the suspect to the US government, which will have to request his extradition.
Having been stripped of his Brazilian citizenship, Wanzeler currently only holds a US passport.
Wanzeler’s lawyer maintains there’s some new immigration law, that prohibits extradition of non-citizens to face parallel lawsuits.
TelexFree operated as Ympactus in Brazil. With respect to TelexFree, Wanzeler is the defendant in 11,000 civil lawsuits, 15 criminal lawsuit and a single public civil action.
The US indicted Wanzeler on fraud charges related to TelexFree back in 2014.
If Wanzeler is finally extradited, he’s likely to be facing at least a decade behind bars.
Meanwhile in Brazil, Wanzeler has been free to holiday since fleeing six years ago. That’s despite the mountain of pending legal action against him.
Brazilian authorities did arrest Wanzeler last December, only to see him “released days later”.
As I understand it Wanzeler is currently being held pending the outcome of his extradition case. Stay tuned…