Luanda, July 24, 2026 (Lusa) — The Angolan police have dismantled a criminal organisation involved in fraudulent banking transactions in an operation that led to the arrest of eight people who were preparing to transfer $10 billion (€8.78 billion).
The operation began after authorities received a report about the alleged kidnapping of a 38-year-old Brazilian national who had arrived in the country on 24 June to provide IT services at a university, according to a statement from the Directorate for the Investigation of Criminal Offences of the Angolan National Police.
Following the investigations, the individual was located on 20 July in a flat in the municipality of Kilamba in the company of seven Angolan nationals, a fact that caught the attention of the investigators, who concluded that the individual was a «hacker».
Investigators believe the Angolans contacted the individual via social media, and the group coordinated the criminal activities; the individual then travelled to Luanda to hack into the banking system and carry out illicit transfers of considerable sums of money.
Preliminary investigations also concluded that this was not a case of kidnapping, but rather a transnational criminal organisation calling itself «TERMINAL — Command Line».
The network, which authorities have partially dismantled, comprised Angolan, Brazilian, Nigerian and Namibian nationals and was involved in cybercrime, specifically hacking into banking systems, fraudulent interception of OTP (One-Time Password) codes, cyber fraud, document forgery and money laundering.
«To this end, the suspects used computer equipment and other devices with the aim of interfering with the systems of national banking institutions, namely BFA, BIC, BAI, BCI and Banco Millennium Atlântico,» the statement said.
Investigators also uncovered strong indications that the group had already carried out illicit banking operations and was preparing to execute a fraudulent transfer valued at approximately $10 billion through various banks.
The organisation relied on employees from public and private institutions to facilitate the unfreezing of accounts and the acquisition of privileged information, as well as to devise irregular schemes to justify the transactions.
During the investigations, authorities arrested eight suspects aged 25 to 38, including one Brazilian national and seven Angolans.
Investigators forwarded the case files to the Cybercrime and Electronic Evidence Unit of the Attorney General's Office, where the detainees underwent preliminary questioning. Given the seriousness of the case, the authorities brought them before the judge to ensure their rights were upheld for their first judicial hearing.
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