A São Paulo court has ruled that a financial institution and a partner of an unlicensed betting operator must jointly compensate a consumer in a case involving an illegal online gambling platform.
The decision, issued by the 15th Chamber of Private Law of the São Paulo Court of Justice (TJ-SP), determined that both parties are jointly liable for material damages.
The bettor is to receive R$1,200.32 ($240) in winnings that were withheld, as well as double restitution of R$220 paid during attempted withdrawals.
The case stems from a dispute involving the platform “256jogo.com”, where the claimant reported being unable to withdraw funds unless additional deposits were made. Even after completing the requested transfers via Brazil’s instant payment method, Pix, the withdrawal was not processed.
While the first-instance ruling held only the operator responsible, the appellate court expanded liability to include the bank and the company’s partner.
Judges found that the financial institution formed part of the service chain by providing payment infrastructure essential to the platform’s operation.
The court classified the incident as an internal risk inherent to banking activity rather than an external fraud. It concluded that the institution failed to demonstrate effective monitoring and prevention mechanisms, particularly given repeated transactions linked to illicit activity.
Judges also highlighted that the operator was not authorized to offer betting services in Brazil, reinforcing the expectation that the bank should have identified irregularities.
The ruling stressed that merely verifying formal documentation, such as company registration, is insufficient in higher-risk sectors.
However, the panel rejected claims for moral damages, finding no evidence of significant harm beyond financial loss.
Illegal betting funds in Brazil have recently been traced to financial structures linked to major money laundering investigations in a different operation
