Who is Nelma Kodama? Everything to know about the real "Queen of Dirty Money"

Nelma Kodama, the infamous underground forex dealer, has captured the public's attention with her tale of criminal activity, wealth, and salvation. The new Netflix documentary Nelma Kodama: The Queen of Dirty Money features her.

The film, directed by João Wainer and starring Kodama, was released on June 6, 2024. It runs for 1 hour and 34 minutes and follows Kodama's role in Brazil's major corruption scandals.

At the time of writing, Kodama has garnered over 6,000 Instagram followers. Her life has piqued the interest of people keen on discovering more about her sudden fame, her time in prison, and the quest to unveil the reality of her criminal history.

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How Nelma Kodama went from small-time criminal to global drug lord

Nelma Kodama, famously called the "Queen of Dirty Money," transitioned from a minor criminal to an international drug kingpin by participating in multiple unlawful activities.

Born in 1966 in Brazil, Kodama started her criminal journey as an illegal currency trader, referred to as a "doleiro" in Brazil. In her youth, there were few signs of the criminal path she would later take, but she was lured by the allure of fast money into the underground world of illegal finance.

Kodama became well-known in 2006 after the exchange company she was employed by was linked to a major investigation involving money laundering through bingo parlors.

She later got involved in Brazil's well-known Lava Jato scandal, which revealed widespread corruption at state-owned oil company Petrobras. In this situation, executives accepted large bribes in return for inflated-value construction contracts.

During her time as a criminal, Kodama's skill in maneuvering through intricate criminal networks and her readiness to take calculated risks enabled her to establish a broad network of contacts and collaborators.

Her participation in the worldwide drug smuggling network, specifically with Brazil's biggest criminal organization, the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital - PCC), cemented her status as a strong presence in the global drug trade.

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Consequences of Nelma Kodama's criminal empire

The impact of Nelma Kodama's criminal syndicate was extensive and destructive. Her participation in criminal activities resulted in frequent confrontations with the police, which eventually resulted in her being arrested and facing multiple charges. In 2014, Kodama was caught at São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport with €200,000 concealed in her underwear, trying to escape to Italy during the Lava Jato probe.

Later on, she received an 18-year prison term for corruption, illegal foreign exchange operations, and involvement in criminal organizations. Nevertheless, her sentence was cut short thanks to a cooperation deal and a pardon from then-President Michel Temer in 2017.

Even after being released early, Kodama remained engaged in criminal behaviors. She was investigated in 2018 for supposedly wearing stolen jewelry from a mansion in São Paulo, and she uploaded a video in 2019 demonstrating how to take off an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet.

She was last arrested in 2021, when she was caught at a fancy hotel in Lisbon, Portugal, as part of Operation Discovery, a sting targeting a criminal ring that smuggled cocaine into Portugal inside private planes. Kodama's criminal organization started to fall apart, and her allies started to betray her. Her loss of status showed the effectiveness of law enforcement and the repercussions of her illegal behavior.

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The Queen of Dirty Money is available to stream on Netflix.