Police Arrest Men Selling Historic Brazilian Sports Memorabilia

Rio de Janeiro's Civil Police arrested two men caught trying to illegally sell rare pieces of Brazilian sports memorabilia and also apprehended a teenager during the same operation.

According to investigators, the suspects obtained the items through electronic fraud targeting a sports memorabilia platform. The company reported a series of purchases made with stolen credit cards that caused losses of about R$450,000 ($87,000).

The trio was detained at a shopping mall in Barra da Tijuca, in Rio's western zone, on Friday (10).

Recovered items included Brazil national team jerseys signed by players from the 2018 to 2022 FIFA World Cups, a jersey commemorating Pelé's 1,000th goal, basketballs signed by NBA stars, trading cards and posters.

Police said some shipments had been sent to addresses in Salvador, Bahia, and that certain pieces are worth as much as R$50,000 ($9,700), making them highly sought after by collectors in Brazil and abroad.

Weeks after making the fraudulent purchases, the suspects contacted the victimized platform themselves to offer the items for sale.

To set up the sting operation, investigators instructed company representatives to pretend they were interested in buying the memorabilia and arrange a meeting at the shopping mall. The arrests were made during the meeting, and part of the collection was recovered.

The two men were charged with receiving stolen goods, while the teenager will face juvenile proceedings for the equivalent offense. Investigators are continuing efforts to identify those behind the electronic fraud and recover the remaining missing items.

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