Guyana Anti Corruption Network

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** |

## GUYANA ANTI-CORRUPTION NETWORK (GACN) TO RELEASE BLOCKBUSTER EXPOSÉ: CONVICTED BRAZILIAN FELON, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, AND STATE-SANCTIONED VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS PEOPLES EXPOSED IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR GOLD SCANDAL

**Georgetown, Guyana** – The Guyana Anti-Corruption Network (GACN) announces that it will release a comprehensive, evidence-based exposé detailing one of the most extensive corruption and human rights scandals in Guyana’s history. The investigation, titled **”THE MARUDI FILES,”** reveals a direct nexus between a convicted Brazilian criminal, senior Guyanese government officials, a “non-existent” mining cooperative, and credible allegations of kidnapping and torture perpetrated against Indigenous men in the Marudi district by two private security firms controlled by the mining syndicate.

The exposé is the culmination of months of investigation, including confidential field research in the Deep South Rupununi, analysis of international judicial records, and the acquisition of explosive documentary evidence.

**KEY FINDINGS TO BE RELEASED:**

**1. A Convicted Criminal Operating with Impunity:** The investigation confirms that **Rodrigo Martins de Mello (“Rodrigo Cataratas”)** , sentenced to over **22 years in prison** by a Brazilian federal court for leading a criminal organization that devastated the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, has been operating freely in Guyana. Evidence shows he has been granted meetings with senior Guyanese officials, including the Minister of Natural Resources and the Office of the Prime Minister, while reportedly establishing a **US$10 million mining operation** in the Marudi district.

**2. The Paper Trail: US$395,000 in Missing Gold:** GACN has obtained two official Guyana Geology & Mines Commission (GGMC) gold receipts that prove a mechanism of theft. The receipts, dated October and November 2025, show that **Vickram Manoo**, a senior GGMC officer, collected nearly **US$400,000** in gold from payers including **Bruna Mello** (sister of Rodrigo Cataratas) and a recurring Guyanese fixer, **Charleston Benjamin**. Crucially, the gold was collected under the name of the **RMA Co-op Society**, an entity that has been **legally dissolved since May 2023**. Agency sources confirm the gold was **never reported and never turned over to the state**.

**3. Terror in the Marudi: Allegations of Kidnapping and Torture:** GACN field research has uncovered deeply disturbing reports from multiple sources in the Marudi region. The investigation will detail credible allegations that private security forces working for Cataratas’s operation, reportedly accompanied by uniformed **Guyana Police Force** members, have conducted night raids on Indigenous villages, illegally detained men, and subjected them to beatings and torture within private mining camps. Some victims have allegedly been forced into labor. The presence of state security alongside private actors has created a climate of terror and impunity, silencing victims who fear state complicity. Using phones or taking photos is prohibited.

**4. Voices from the Deep South:** The investigation is anchored by the testimony of a whistleblower from one of the gateway communities to the Murudi Mountains (Karaudarnau). This source detailed how Brazilian miners, operating through the **Rupununi Miners Association (RMA)** , are destroying local roads, bribing villages with buses and crushers, employing Amerindian workers without insurance or labor protections, and bypassing the local economy by importing all supplies from Brazil.

**5. The Political Shield:** The exposé names specific individuals who form the network enabling this operation, including **Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat**, GGMC officer **Vickram Manoo**, local Toshaos and village leaders, and the recurring presence of **Charleston Benjamin**.

**CRITICAL QUESTIONS THE EXPOSÉ DEMANDS BE ANSWERED:**

* Where did the **3,494.7 grams of gold** (worth US$303,000) collected on November 7, 2025, by Vickram Manoo disappear to?
* Why is a dissolved cooperative still being used on official GGMC receipts?
* What due diligence was conducted before meetings were held with a man convicted of crimes against humanity?
* Have the Police Complaints Authority or Human Rights Commission investigated the reports of kidnapping and torture involving Guyana Police Force members?
* Why has the Ministry of Labor failed to protect Amerindian workers in the Deep South?

**GACN’S DEMANDS AHEAD OF THE FULL RELEASE:**

Ahead of the full publication of “THE MARUDI FILES,” GACN calls on the relevant authorities to prepare to act. We demand:

1. The immediate **suspension of Vickram Manoo**.
2. An immediate **moratorium on all mining operations linked to Rodrigo Cataratas**.
3. An independent, urgent **investigation into the torture allegations** by the Police Complaints Authority and Human Rights Commission.
4. Full public disclosure of all **meetings and permits involving Rodrigo Cataratas**.
5. An immediate **asset freeze** on all individuals named in the gold receipts pending a money laundering investigation.

**STATEMENT FROM GACN:**

“This is not a simple case of regulatory failure. This is a national security crisis and a human rights catastrophe unfolding on Guyanese soil. We have documentary proof of millions in stolen gold. We have credible, detailed testimony of kidnapping and torture involving our own police force. And we have a convicted foreign criminal who has been given red-carpet access to our highest offices while our Indigenous brothers and sisters are terrorized. The public has a right to see the full evidence. The victims have a right to justice. We will lay it all bare.”