Judge orders the arrest of a top Brazilian country music star as part of a money laundering probe

RIO DE JANEIRO

A judge in Brazil’s northeastern Pernambuco state has ordered the preventive arrest of Gusttavo Lima, one of the nation’s biggest country music stars, in connection with a money laundering investigation. Judge Andrea Calada de Cruz wrote in her decision made public Monday that she was calling on Interpol to issue a red alert to apprehend four people still at large, noting that two of them traveled to Europe with Lima earlier this month and remained there. Lima, who has previously denied that his company engaged in wrongdoing, said that the judge’s decision is unjust, baseless and at odds with the facts the singer has already clarified.