A Brazilian man who admitted fraudulently buying food, alcohol and cigarettes through a delivery app has been sentenced to five months behind bars.

Caio Gallucci, 22, from Rio de Janeiro, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to charges of obtaining property through deception and attempting to obtain property through deception.

Gallucci apologised for his actions, stating that he had used card information given to him by another Brazilian national because he did not have money to sustain himself.

The Supreme Court heard that the operators of the Sargasso Sea app became suspicious after they noticed an unusual amount of deliveries of alcohol, food and cigarettes to an address on North Shore Road in Pembroke.

A customer service representative from the company contacted the customer and requested photo ID and an image of the card being used to confirm the transactions, and received Gallucci’s details.

On July 10, police from the financial crimes unit executed a search warrant of the property and found two large trash bags filled with empty bottles of alcohol, cigarette packages and food items.

Gallucci was subsequently arrested and told police that he had come to Bermuda to track down another Brazilian national whose friends and family became concerned about his wellbeing.

While he claimed that he had never used or downloaded the Sargasso app, officers searching his phone found a series of messages from Sargasso referencing orders received, rejected and delivered.

In total, prosecutors alleged that Gallucci had obtained $392.46 of goods fraudulently by using credit and debit cards without authorisation and had attempted to make three additional purchases, which were rejected.

Crown counsel T’Deana Spencer told the court that Gallucci’s case was sent to the Supreme Court because it was intended to be joined with the case of Luca Bandeira. However, that did not take place.

In November, Bandeira pleaded guilty to possessing $66,080 in criminal funds, possession of a machine to create fake credit cards and possession of fake credit cards. He has yet to be sentenced.

Ms Spencer confirmed that Gallucci had been held in custody since September and, in all of the circumstances, a sentence of time served would be appropriate.

Nicole Smith, counsel for Gallucci, said that Bandeira had provided her client with the fraudulent card information that he used after they had met on the island.

She added that the matter could have been dealt with sooner had the Crown provided the details of the charges against him earlier.

“My client was held in custody for months before he knew the case against him, before his case was disclosed,” she said.

“I received the initial disclosure of his case in January. This is avoidable and should never have happened, particularly when the disclosure I received for my client’s case was dated July 2024.”

Speaking through a translator, Gallucci said he felt bad for his actions and the impact the case has had on his mother, a police officer in Brazil.

Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe said that he was satisfied that Gallucci was not the ringleader of the fraud plot and had shown genuine remorse.

He added that, given the sums involved, the case could have been dealt with in Magistrates’ Court, and that sentencing Gallucci to the time he had already served in custody was appropriate in the circumstances.

Mr Justice Wolffe said that the defendant should be held in custody until he is deported to Brazil.

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