Three arrested over world's biggest cash robbery

Brazilian authorities have arrested three more men suspected of taking part in the world’s biggest cash robbery, and a fourth allegedly has been kidnapped, officials said today.

Pedro Jose da Cruz, Anselmo Oliveira Magalhaes and Leonel Moreira Martins were arrested in early November in Sao Paulo, federal police spokeswoman Erotildes Bezerra said. It was unclear why the arrests were not announced earlier.

Authorities are tracking at least six more suspects, including one of the alleged leaders of the gang that tunnelled under a city street in August and stole more than $70m (€59.7m) from a branch of Brazil’s Central Bank in Fortaleza, 1,500 miles northeast of Sao Paulo.

So far, authorities have recovered about $8m (€6.8m) of the stolen money.

Meanwhile, police in Fortaleza are searching for Jose Elizomarte Fernandes Vieira, a car dealer suspected of laundering money for the robbers. Vieira was kidnapped on Tuesday, investigator Luis Carlos Dantas said.

It would be the third kidnapping related to the heist.

In late November, the wife of a bank security guard suspected of providing information to the robbers was kidnapped. She was released three days later after her abductors found her husband’s share of the money.

In October, Luis Fernando Ribeiro, an alleged mastermind of the robbery, also was kidnapped. He was found dead two days later after his family reportedly paid a ransom.

Two policemen have been arrested in connection with the killing. Police suspect the officers were hired by acquaintances of Ribeiro.