Police in Brazil were able to thwart an illegal logging scheme based on millions of dollars in bribes from two Chinese businessmen to a Brazilian company, according to The Guardian.
Officials caught wind of the bribes after the fact, but they were able to stop the scheme shortly after it began and save up to $30 million worth of environmental damage to the rainforest, the report stated.
The two businessmen had paid Pangea Mining $3 million out of an expected $15 million for 538,195 square feet of wood. Pangea used the money to pay another company to falsely issue “forest replacement credits,” which go to farmers who replant areas after sustainably harvesting the wood. Pangea bought credits for more than 900,000 square feet of wood, and police discovered the operation after credits for 215,000 square feet of wood had been used.
Investigators do not know how much, if any, of the wood made its way to China.
The full report is available via The Guardian.
