A major cross-state coordinated investigation into an illegal gambling ring has been launched by Brazilian authorities.
Operation “Conto da Sorte”, sanctioned by the Federal Revenue Service (FRS), involves three Public Prosecutor Offices and the local police forces in the states of Pernambuco, São Paulo and Ceará.
According to the FRS, authorities have so far executed a total of 14 search warrants across the three states, resulting in the seizing of passports, documents, electronic devices, firearms, and around R$30k (£4.3k) in cash.
SBC Noticias reported that an additional R$145m (£21.1m) worth of assets has also been collected.
The target of the warrants so far, as per official information, have been six individuals and seven properties, allegedly linked to a network of 37 companies that processed billions of reals through illicit gambling.
Authorities have revealed that the majority of these companies were registered under so-called ‘straw owners’ – socially weak individuals who are either receiving benefits or are financially incapable of owning a business.
This facade had allegedly been used by criminals to exercise actual financial control and move large amounts of money through a string of shell companies and nonexistent addresses.
No arrests have been made yet, according to local outlet Jornal.
SPA smells wrongdoing from afar
Initial suspicions were raised by Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) – the gambling authority under the Ministry of Finance, established last year to regulate the country’s newly launched online betting and gaming market.
As the only authority empowered to issue gambling licenses, SPA suspected foul play back in 2025 when it conducted a technical analysis of LOTSERIDÓ – an official municipal lottery and regulatory agency created in July 2024 by the municipality of Bodó.
LOTSERIDÓ had apparently issued licenses to a number of gambling providers in Brazil – a significant breach of local regulations. As mentioned above, licenses can only be issued on the federal level by SPA. No municipalities can do so on their own accord.
The legitimacy of LOTSERIDÓ subsequently came into question, culminating in revocation of the agency’s licence authorisations by Brazil’s Supreme Court. LOTSERIDÓ was subsequently closed in October 2025.
However, authorities have now announced that the LOTSERIDÓ-authorised companies have continued to operate without authorisation from SPA. Official Bodó economic activity records show R$4.6bn (£674m) flowing through the accounts of at least one company. The total amount of money moved could be much higher.
Dario Durigan, Minister of Finance, commented: “There was a movement, at first, of R$50bn, due to these 37 companies that operated illegally in the country, and these 14 search and seizure warrants will allow us to determine the exact amounts that will be announced very soon.”
The investigation comes at a time of heightened tensions around gambling in Brazil, with President Lula da Silva under pressure to either see through a full reform or a complete repeal of the Bets regime – not even two years after he himself sanctioned the launch of the market in January 2025.
