The 58-year-old man used false bank guarantees to buy fuel on consignment from oil companies.

Portuguese businessman Luís Estiveira, convicted in the Algarve of fraud and who was on the run, was captured in Brazil. According to the Correio da Manhã newspaper, the 58-year-old man was detained by the Federal Police in a restaurant in the city of João Pessoa. Police had an international arrest warrant for the man who was wanted by Interpol.

Luís Estiveira was a petrol station dealer in the Algarve and had been sentenced in Portimão to seven years in prison for nine crimes of aggravated document forgery. According to the court, he used false bank guarantees to buy fuel on consignment from oil companies.

He had also already been convicted of the same crimes in Faro. The scheme, in 2010 and 2011, was dismantled by the PJ in 2014.

The businessman will be presented to the Brazilian authorities for extradition to Portugal.