Civil Police carry out operation against money laundering with bets that moved R$ 1 billion via fintech

Brasília The Civil Police of the Federal District launched an operation, this Thursday (5), against a money laundering scheme, using an illegal betting network, which would have generated around R$1 billion.

The group would have had the help of a fintech from São Paulo, authorized by the Central Bank to operate as a direct credit company, according to investigations. The name of the institution was not disclosed.

Payments via Pix for this platform were directed to companies with declared activities unrelated to betting, including a psychosocial assistance clinic and a tarot shop, both with addresses in Sobradinho, DF.

The investigations identified companies opened between February and July 2026, with identical share capital and addresses concentrated in Sobradinho, Sobradinho II and Ceilândia, also in the Federal District.

At the locations, police officers found empty properties and other commercial establishments. According to the police, in a single lot in Ceilândia, ten companies indicated the same telephone number.

The investigations also point to the use of dozens of shell companies to receive payments, concentrate the amounts and redistribute them among people, companies and institutions, including conversion into cryptoactives.

The operation, called Azzardo (reference to the Italian expression game of chance), was supported by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance and mobilized around 200 civil police officers from the DF, São Paulo, Goiás, Paraná, Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte.

In the capital of São Paulo, the teams carried out search and seizure warrants in the region of Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, in Pinheiros, in the Vila Olímpia business hub and in other locations.

In Goiás, the investigations took place in Goiânia, Planaltina de Goiás and Valparaíso de Goiás.

The teams searched for documents, cell phones, computers, media and elements related to cryptoactives to identify those responsible for the platforms, track the resources and determine possible losses to bettors.

The Sobradinho Guarantee Court ordered the blocking of accounts and financial assets of 64 individuals and 120 legal entities, up to R$3.483 billion, in addition to the unavailability of assets held in institutions supervised by the Central Bank and the CVM (Securities Commission).

Those investigated may be held liable for unauthorized lottery exploitation, embezzlement through electronic fraud, money laundering, ideological falsehood and criminal organization.

Deprivation of liberty sentences range from 11 years and six months to 31 years, and can reach 33 years if the ideological falsehood involves a public document.