Electrician is arrested for energy theft in Franca, SP A 38-year-old electrician was arrested red-handed this Wednesday (15) suspected of installing equipment in energy meters to defraud consumption in companies and homes in Franca (SP), in the scheme known as “gato”. According to the Civil Police, the arrest took place during the execution of a search and seizure warrant at the suspect's home. In the property, police officers found materials that, according to the investigation, were used in fraud. The investigations began after Companhia Paulista de Força e Luz (CPFL) identified a sudden drop in consumption at a company in the Industrial District. The establishment paid around R$20,000 per month for energy, but the bill dropped to approximately R$2,000 after the installation of jumpers on the meter, according to police. Jumpers are equipment used to divert the electrical current from the meter socket, evading the actual measurement of consumption. ?Click here to follow the g1 Ribeirão e Franca channel on WhatsApp Man is arrested for theft of electricity in Franca, SP Reproduction/EPTV The suspect's defense was not located until the last update of this report. How the police reached the suspect According to the Civil Police, CPFL inspected the company after identifying the reduction in consumption. During the investigation, the owner of the establishment informed who had installed the equipment. Based on this information, the police began to investigate the electrician. According to delegate Eduardo Lopes Bonfim, from the General Investigations Sector (SIG) of Franca, the suspect was already accompanied by the police. “This guy was already being more or less monitored, but every time we carried out operations he would withdraw, he tried not to do this type of service, even out of fear of being caught”, he stated. According to the delegate, investigators also began to analyze the energy consumption of the suspect's home. "A search warrant was requested. After surveying the place where he lived, the electricity bill also did not match the size of the residence", said Bonfim. How the fraud worked According to the investigation, the suspect installed jumpers on energy meters. Simply put, these devices interfered with the measurement and meant that part of the consumption was not recorded correctly. As a result, the amount charged on the electricity bill was below actual consumption. According to the Civil Police, there was a pattern in the frauds, which helped investigators identify the suspect. The police claim that the electrician charged between R$2,000 and R$10,000 per installation. The service was carried out in businesses, industries and homes, according to the investigation. Next steps in the investigation The delegate stated that the Civil Police must ask the Court for authorization to break the suspect's banking secrecy. The objective is to identify who made payments to him and discover other possible places where fraud may have been installed. “Another thing that will be done within the investigation is a survey to see how much he was earning per month, where this money was coming from. All of this will be done within the investigation, with a request to the judge for a break in his bank account", said Bonfim. According to the police, new steps must be taken based on the crossing of banking information, consumption data and CPFL inspections. In a statement, CPFL informed that defrauding the supply of electricity is a crime and advised the population to report suspicious cases on the company's channels or to the police. Reports can also be made by calling 190 and 181. Police of Franca, SP, arrests man on suspicion of energy theft See more news from the region on g1 Ribeirão Preto and Franca VIDEOS: Everything about Ribeirão Preto, Franca and the region