Mining businessman Rodrigo Martins Mello, better known as Rodrigo Cataratas, said his son, Celso Martins Mello, was arrested this Saturday by the federal police as part of the investigation into the escape of federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem. Last week, Cataratas, who works in Guyana and Roraima State, had already released a video in which he defended himself against an accusation that he helped Abin’s former manager leave the country.
“The office of Rodrigo Cataratas specifies that, this Saturday, the Federal Police executed in Manaus (AM), an arrest warrant against Celso Rodrigo de Mello, son of Rodrigo Cataratas, as determined by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, as part of an investigation linked to the investigation into the alleged escape of federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem,” the note states.
Cataratas also adds that his son is innocent and that the defense is appealing the decision. “The opinion reinforces the importance of respect for due process of law and the presumption of innocence, emphasizing that any early conclusions do not correspond to the facts,” the text reads.
At the end of November, after the Roraima press published that Cataratas was under investigation by the PF for having helped Ramagem, the businessman defended himself on the Internet and claimed to be persecuted. The video begins with the miner discussing Ramagem’s ties to the state, where he was previously a PF delegate.
— (Ramagem) has several friends in Roraima, and I am also his friend, right? He’s a federal MP, friends. During his last stay in Roraima, no conviction was handed down against him. So, this story of escape is a false story, precisely to maintain the persecution – Cataratas says in the video, adding: – We are all right-wing here and are persecuted.
— I have a photo with Ramagem on my social network. It’s not a crime. When he was there, he was not convicted and this story of escape is fallacious (..) I learned of his conviction on social networks, but at that time he was already in the United States. — continues Cataratas.
Currently, Rodrigo Cataratas is a pre-candidate for the Senate of the PRD. In 2022, he ran for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies for the PL, after declaring that he had saved BRL 4.5 million in cash. Its assets also include ten aircraft and eleven vehicles, totaling BRL 33.6 million. He is one of the leaders of the “Movimento Garimpo é Legal”.
The prospector has business in Guyana, a country that was on Ramagem’s escape route to the United States, as revealed by GLOBO columnist Malu Gaspar. The PF investigation revealed that the federal deputy arrived in the neighboring country through the municipality of Bonfim, bordering the town of Lethem.
In January 2024, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office indicted the businessman suspected of setting fire to a car belonging to the Brazilian Environmental Institute (Ibama) and of invading the federal police garage to set fire to an institute helicopter in 2021. Cataratas allegedly financed and encouraged the destruction of the equipment. Cataratas remains accused in three Federal Court cases relating to illegal gold exploration in Roraima.
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