Central Bank robber is arrested in Belo Horizonte.
Rubens Ramalho de Araújo, nicknamed Rubo, is accused of being part of the gang that robbed the Central Bank in Fortaleza in 2005; he only took R$ 5 million with the heist; the criminal is in the Nelson Hungria penitentiary in Contagem.
247 - One of the most wanted bank robbers by the police is in jail in Belo Horizonte. He is Rubens Ramalho de Araújo, known as Rubão, accused of being one of the members of the gang that robbed the Central Bank in Fortaleza in 2005 – the biggest bank robbery in Brazilian history, in which R$ 164 million was stolen.
Rubão was arrested in Tocantins by agents from the Specialized Unit for the Repression of Criminal Organizations of the Minas Gerais Civil Police. He was later transferred to the Nelson Hungria Penitentiary in Contagem. According to Detective Islande Batista, Rubão is accused of robbing banks in five Brazilian states.
There are 19 arrest warrants against the robber. Of that total, three are from Minas Gerais, and the others are from São Paulo, Mato Grosso, Piauí, Maranhão, Bahia, Ceará, and Paraíba.
According to the police, Rubão kept "only" R$ 5 million from the bank robbery. This is because he refused to go through the tunnel (dug from a neighboring house to the bank) due to a phobia. With this money, the robber bought cars, buildings, and farms in Piauí and Tocantins.
Rubão was arrested for the Central Bank robbery. He was held at the Paulo Sarasate Penal Institute (IPPS) in Fortaleza. But in 2008, he escaped after overpowering five police officers while being taken to give a statement. Last year, he was arrested in Piauí, from where he also escaped.