A forfeiture order to seize more than $66,000 of cash and a luxury watch from a Brazilian man convicted of money laundering has been granted by the Supreme Court.

Luca Bandeira was sentenced to three years in prison in May 2025 for charges of money laundering, possessing machines adapted to falsify instruments, obtaining property by deception and attempting to obtain property by deception.

While Bandeira did not resist the forfeiture of the $66,080 in cash seized during the investigation, he claimed that a silver Rolex found in his Airbnb was a Christmas present and was unrelated to the crimes.

However, Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe said in a written decision that the evidence before him made it easy to conclude that the watch was an “incentive” to participate in the scheme.

On June 24, 2024, Bandeira was spotted by HSBC staff attempting to use several different cards, including a Dunkin’ Donuts card, at a Warwick ATM.

Later that day, police officers saw Bandeira at a cash machine in Paget in possession of various gift cards and four HSBC receipts each totalling $1,000.

A subsequent search of the Airbnb where Bandeira had been staying revealed $66,080 in cash, a PlayStation 5, a silver Rolex watch and several card readers.

Bandeira was released on bail, but on July 8, 2024, police received a report of “significant” orders of alcohol, cigarettes and food being ordered on Pronto under different names, but all sent to the same Pembroke address.

Police attended the residence and found Bandeira, whom they arrested again.

At a hearing in November, the Crown sought both a deprivation order for phones, card readers and the seized PlayStation 5, along with a forfeiture order for the cash and the seized Rolex.

While Bandeira did not dispute that recovered cash was liable for forfeiture, he fought against the forfeiture of the watch.

He told the court that the watch was a Christmas present from his girlfriend and that it had been purchased in New York, and provided an invoice purporting to be from a jeweller billed to “Sasha Lial Ribeiro” dated December 30, 2023.

The defendant also produced a bank statement which showed a $5,900 transaction with the jeweller on the same date.

However, the court heard inquiries found that “Sasha” had arranged for Bandeira’s stay at a Bermuda Airbnb using the pretext that she was travelling with her “husband”, although he arrived here alone.

Further police investigations revealed a “Sasha” was identified in telephone records from both Bandeira and another defendant, Caio Gallucci, who was convicted in 2024 for obtaining property by deception and subsequently sentenced to time served.

In the communications, Gallucci referred to “Sasha” as the “head of the business” and the one who “arranges everything”.

Another communication between Gallucci and “Sasha” discussed card scamming activities in Bermuda, the suspected arrest of her “boyfriend” and the recovery of a Rolex, along with cash, and Gallucci bringing them back to the US.

Prosecutors told the court that based on all of the communications, “Sasha” was likely one of the masterminds of the operation and it was reasonable to conclude that the watch was purchased using laundered funds.

In a written decision, dated February 5, Mr Justice Wolffe said it was “rather easy”, given the facts, to conclude that the watch was received as a “payment or other reward” for the commission of the offences.

Mr Justice Wolffe wrote: “The interconnected lines drawn by the prosecution from and between the defendant, Gallucci, Sasha, the offences committed by the defendant and Gallucci, Sasha’s bank accounts, the purchase of the watch and the giving of the watch to the defendant, are plausible and clearly defined.

“I accept that the evidence presented by the prosecution was not tested by cross-examination, but the defendant did not offer any evidence to the contrary either.

“No doubt he did not wisely do so, because he may have inadvertently incriminated himself, Gallucci and/or Sasha even further.”

The Crown also sought a deprivation order for a number of items seized from the defendant including two phones, four card readers and a PlayStation 5, all of which they said were in connection with the offences.

While Bandeira took no issue with the bulk of the items, he objected in the case of the video game console stating that it had not been used for any such purpose.

The Crown argued that the PlayStation 5 could be used to communicate with others as part of the scheme, but Mr Justice Wolffe found there was not enough evidence to suggest that it had been.

Mr Justice Wolffe wrote: “While I accept that the PlayStation console have features which would allow communication with others, I am cautious to reach the conclusion that the defendant actually used or may have used such functions, or that if he did that he did so in connection with the commission of the offences charged.

“Had I been made aware of the results of any examination of the consoles, as I was with the examination of the iPhone 15, then maybe my decision may have been different.”

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