Brazil's Federal District Civil Police has launched an operation targeting a financial network allegedly used by unauthorized betting platforms to move BR$739m ($135.2m) through shell companies.
Officers are executing 52 search and seizure warrants in the Federal District and five states: São Paulo, Goiás, Paraná, Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte. The operation also includes measures to freeze financial assets, although no arrest warrants were issued.
The investigation began five months ago after the Finance Ministry's Secretariat of Prizes and Bets identified betting operators without federal authorization. Investigators found that payments made to the platforms were allegedly routed through companies whose declared business activities were unrelated to gambling.
In Sobradinho, in the Federal District, funds were transferred to a psychosocial care clinic and a tarot shop. However, officers found empty properties and other commercial establishments at the locations identified during the investigation.
The Federal District Civil Police said the investigation had identified dozens of shell companies used to receive payments, concentrate funds and redistribute them among individuals, businesses and payment institutions, including through conversions into crypto assets.
The investigation also involves A55 Sociedade de Crédito, a São Paulo-based fintech authorized by the Central Bank to operate as a direct credit company. Simulations conducted by the Finance Ministry showed that Pix payments originating from the investigated platforms were routed to numerous shell company accounts held at the fintech.
Police said financial information relating to the institution and companies belonging to the same group indicated transactions totaling approximately BR$1bn, including transfers to an investigated company and payments associated with unauthorized betting operators.
The Central Bank announced on July 30, 2026, that it intended to cancel the fintech's operating authorization.
A court in Sobradinho ordered the freezing of accounts and financial assets belonging to 64 individuals and 120 legal entities, up to a combined limit of BR$3.483bn. The order also covers the freezing of assets held at institutions supervised by the Central Bank and the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM).
Potential charges include operating an unauthorized lottery, electronic fraud, money laundering, making false statements and participation in a criminal organization
