By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ) has overturned a Rio de Janeiro court order that allowed Refit to resume operations, keeping the refinery shut as federal probes into money-laundering allegations continue.
STJ President Herman Benjamin granted the request from the Office of the Attorney General of the National Treasury (PGFN), which argued that reopening the refinery would pose a “serious risk to the economy and public order.” The decision, issued on Wednesday (Oct. 29), voided a ruling two days earlier by the Rio state appeals court.
According to InfoMoney, federal regulators — the Federal Revenue Service and the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) — had ordered Refit to suspend operations on Sept. 19 following irregularities uncovered during Operation Carbon Chain. The refinery, located in Rio’s Manguinhos district, has been under scrutiny since the Federal Police launched Operation Hidden Carbon in late August, probing whether its fuel was being sold through gas stations allegedly controlled by the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) criminal organization.
Investigators believe the PCC used the fuel distribution network to launder illicit profits, concealing ownership through shell companies and fintechs based in São Paulo’s financial district, Faria Lima.
The now-overturned decision by Justice Guaraci de Campos Vianna of the Rio state court had justified lifting the shutdown as a measure to “protect economic activity, preserve jobs, and meet creditors’ interests.”
Meanwhile, the ANP had partially lifted its own interdiction on Saturday (Oct. 26), saying Refit had met 10 of 11 compliance requirements. Those operations are once again on hold after the STJ ruling.