A federal court in São Paulo ordered seven sports betting operators to block the movement of funds and report the balances in their accounts.
The decision came after the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) sued companies that failed to meet federal requirements once their operations were banned.
The Government estimates that about R$159m ($31,9 m) belonging to bettors remains held on the platforms. Operators were required to submit information and guarantee reimbursement by the 12th, a deadline they did not meet.
Denise Aparecida Avelar, Federal Judge at the 6th Federal Court in São Paulo, gave the companies two days to comply, with a fine of R$50,000 per day for each platform that does not.
She said: “The persistence of the omission poses a concrete risk that the shutdown of operations will occur without adequate oversight of where the funds go, compromising the asset protection of bettors.”
She ordered the operators to keep reimbursement money segregated, “refraining from using or moving them for any purpose other than those legally authorized.”
Blaze is among the platforms affected by the investigation, in which Federal Police suspect that lawyer Willer Tomaz is a silent partner in the company. Tomaz is a friend of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), who lost Sunday’s presidential runoff, and is himself under investigation on suspicion of using betting platforms to launder money.
Police base the suspicion on data indicating that Blaze operated at the same address as another Tomaz company and a company owned by a former partner of his.
The Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf) gave investigators information on Tomaz’s transactions on the platform, including withdrawals and bets, and the inquiry found he allegedly used his mother’s name to move funds. His press office said he would not comment.
Foggo Entertainment, the parent company of Blaze, said in a statement that Tomaz “acted exclusively as a user of the platform, holding no type of equity stake, direct or indirect, control relationship or interference in the company’s management.”
The company added that it is cooperating with authorities on the reimbursement process.
The judge cited Provisional Measure 1,394/2026, which requires funds earmarked for reimbursement to remain segregated and prohibits their use for other purposes
