A central bank spokeswoman confirmed FPB Bank is not authorized to operate in Brazil. An FPB Bank executive, Edson Paulo Fanton, was taken into custody for questioning in Santos, a port city near Sao Paulo, police said. Police said FPB Bank was under investigation for "financial crimes, laundering of assets and transnational criminal organization" for offering private banking services without the authorization of Brazil's central bank. FPB Bank said in a statement that it has no operations in Brazil and that accusations that the lender is involved in the corruption scheme are "erroneous." Brazilian police seized documents and questioned suspects on Thursday to investigate Panama's FPB Bank which allegedly worked with the "Panama Papers" law firm to spirit money out of Brazil connected to corruption at state-run companies.

Source: Thanhnien News July 08, 2016 00:22 UTC