CIRA-SP carries out operation against ICMS fraud An operation by the São Paulo Interinstitutional Asset Recovery Committee (CIRA/SP) carries out, this Wednesday morning (15), search and seizure warrants in Londrina and Cambé, in the North of Paraná. One of these targets is lawyer Mayra de Paula, identified by the investigation as a member of one of the main groups in the scheme. The court orders are against investigators for an alleged scheme to sell false credits for the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) to unduly reduce the tax owed to the State. According to the investigation, the scheme may have withheld more than R$3 billion in tax credits. g1 tries to identify the defense of those being investigated. ? Follow g1 Londrina and the region on WhatsApp Mayra de Paula is identified by the investigation as a member of one of the main groups in the scheme. According to CIRA/SP, she is a partner of Nelson Wilians in the alleged frauds. In Cambé, the company De Paula Advogados e Consultoria Jurídica, linked to the lawyer, is also the target of searches. Record of execution of one of the search and seizure warrants. Gaeco There are court orders to be complied with at the Nelson Wilians Advogados office and at the addresses of other individuals and legal entities related to the investigation. To date, there have been no complaints or convictions against those investigated. In addition to the cities of Paraná, the police carried out 38 search and seizure warrants in São Paulo, Campinas, Jundiaí and Ribeirão Preto. There are no arrest warrants. This report is being updated. SP government operation targets scheme that would have evaded R$3.8 billion in tax credits Disclosure How the scheme worked According to the investigation, the organization used shell companies, inactive or without an operational structure. These companies would issue tax documents to artificially circulate ICMS credits, which would then be incorporated into taxpayers' tax records. ICMS is the main source of revenue for state governments. It is a state tax that is levied on the sale of products, the provision of interstate and intercity transport services, and communications. Law firms, consultancies and intermediaries participated in the scheme, according to the investigation. They prospected clients, created contracts and prepared legal opinions to justify the operation before the tax authorities. In addition to the nucleus linked to the Nelson Wilians Group, the investigation also targets agents from the Alpha and Dmc groups. To justify the origin of the credits, those investigated alleged, for example, supposed rights of bankrupt estates or old judicial decisions of expropriation. To forge the appearance of legality, the organization resorted to practices such as: improper use of administrative rules or judicial decisions without finality to justify the credits; presentation of orders that would be false, attributed to tax auditors who did not sign them; sale of credits with no real relationship with ICMS, linked to companies with no activity; use of simulated "assignments" or "management" to formalize the illicit business. CIRA/SP opened 874 Tax Service Orders to analyze around 9,960 suspicious entries, involving more than 850 companies. The committee states that the investigation separates those who acted consciously with illicit profit from those who may have been deceived in good faith. The Treasury Department has already carried out tax checks that culminated in the issuing of tax assessment notices for 752 companies. Read also: São José dos Pinhais: Client uses AI to simulate a cockroach in a snack and ask for a refund Investigation: Mother who planned the death of a shelter worker is also suspected of threatening three other employees Plantation: Businessmen are ordered to pay R$6 million for deforesting indigenous land Most watched videos on g1 Paraná: Read more news on g1 Norte e Noroeste.