Data obtained from an iCloud backup played a significant role in uncovering a $320 million money laundering scheme in Brazil. This led to the arrest of several influencers and musicians. Here are the details.

iCloud backup from an unrelated investigation led to new arrests

Last October, Brazilian federal police (PF) arrested accountant Rodrigo Morgado as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering and international drug trafficking.

As part of the operation, investigators gained access to Morgado's iCloud backup. This uncovered a separate $320 million money laundering scheme and triggered 45 search and seizure warrants across eight states and federal districts along with 39 arrest warrants.

Among those arrested were musicians MC Ryan SP and MC Poze do Rodo, along with two influencers who have a total of 42 million Instagram followers.

G1 reports that the alleged crimes under the new investigation include "illegal betting, secret lotteries, international drug trafficking, front companies, agents, crypto, and overseas transfers."

G1 also notes that accountant Rodrigo had "great confidence in iCloud's security, which allowed federal police to map the entire organization."

With the new arrests, Brazilian authorities issued a new arrest warrant for cloud accounts, including iCloud and Google Drive, and made similar requests for data stored on devices seized during the operation.

It is worth noting that Apple, like other technology companies, regularly complies with government orders worldwide; this is valid as long as authorities "follow applicable laws and regulations when requesting customer information and data."

The company publishes details on how it handles these requests through its Transparency Report center, and you can find more information here.

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