PF blocks more than R$140 million in operation investigating rural financing fraud The group investigated for fraud in rural financing in Tocantins allegedly overvalued assets to be used as collateral for loans. One of the suspects is a former bank employee, who allegedly had the role of entering false information into the systems and framing customers as rural producers. This Tuesday morning (9), the Federal Police carried out search and seizure warrants against eight people investigated in Operation Terra Falsa. According to the Federal Police, more than R$141.7 million and US$400,000 were also blocked, which is equivalent to R$2,067,560, according to the exchange rate on June 8, 2026. 📱 Click here to follow the g1 TO channel on WhatsApp Banco Itaú was contacted, but did not take a position until the last update of this report. The Federal Police requested the preventive detention of some of those being investigated, but the 4th Federal Criminal Court of Palmas decided, at this time, only to order search and seizure orders, in addition to the blocking and seizure of assets. The names of those investigated were not disclosed and g1 was unable to contact their defense. How the scheme worked According to PF investigations, a former bank employee, responsible for the agribusiness sector, is identified as the main coordinator. He used his privileged access to enter false information into the bank's systems, allowing people without any history or economic capacity to pretend to be rural producers. This "artificial ruralization", according to the investigation, allowed the group to have access to rural credit lines. "Note that these are not just incorrect registration data, but elements that are in the essence of the evaluation of the credit granted, leading the agent to misassess the risk of the operation", says the decision. The scheme also included client recruiters who sought interested parties and presented themselves as facilitators of "privileged contacts" at the bank, making obtaining resources conditional on the payment of a commission. READ MORE Former bank employee is investigated for fraud in rural financing in TO; Justice blocks R$ 141.7 million Economic capital and 2nd most populous in TO: discover the city that offers 1,500 vacancies with salaries of up to R$16,400 Search warrants were executed at the addresses of those being investigated PF/Disclosure The artificial valuation of real estate The central point of the strategy to increase illicit profits was the manipulation of the value of rural properties. The group acquired properties and, within extremely short periods of time, promoted a great increase in the value of these assets in records and evaluations. For the police, this appreciation was artificial and sought to provide the properties as collateral for financing that, in theory, would not be paid. There are records of assets that have increased in value by more than 2,600% to serve as collateral for new high-value loans. The investigations highlighted two cases as an example: A property purchased for around R$565,000 was offered as mortgage guarantee shortly afterwards, valued at more than R$3.6 million. In another operation, a property that cost R$221,000 was valued at R$2.5 million just eleven months after purchase. The suspicion of the Federal Police and the Federal Public Ministry is that these credits were contracted with the prior objective of default, that is, the amounts were released and never returned to the bank, while the institution was left with guarantees that did not correspond to the real market value. To ensure compensation for damages, financial assets were blocked, properties, vehicles and even herds of animals were seized in the name of those investigated. Furthermore, the Court authorized access to data from seized electronic devices and computers to further investigate the group's financial flow. Luxury cars are seized during PF operation in Palmas Disclosure/Federal Police of Tocantins See more news from the region on g1 Tocantins.