Brazilian federal court orders 7 betting platforms to return R$ 159 million to players

A federal court in São Paulo has given seven sports betting platforms two days to disclose account balances and keep player funds segregated until they are returned, or face a daily fine of R$ 50,000 per company. For PSPs and operators, the message is straightforward: once a shutdown or transition period starts, funds custody and restitution are not optional paperwork.

1. The decision was issued on Friday (23/10) by Federal Judge Denise Aparecida Avelar of the 6th Federal Court in São Paulo, in response to a lawsuit filed by Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office, the AGU, against platforms that failed to meet government requirements after the betting ban and the transition period for winding down operations.
2. According to Valor, the government estimates that at least R$ 159 million belonging to bettors remained in company accounts after the prohibition. That figure does not include funds held by companies that refused to provide the requested information and are now part of the court action.
3. The obligations the platforms failed to meet included reporting the individual balance of each registered bettor, identifying all brands they operated, and arranging repayment of the outstanding amounts. The AGU said the deadline for compliance expired on 12 October.
4. Under the court order, the companies must keep the money reserved for restitution in their transitory accounts, not use or move it for any purpose other than what is legally allowed, and submit bank documentation showing the relevant accounts and available balances within two days. The court set a daily fine of R$ 50,000 per company for non-compliance.
5. The judge said the urgency was justified because continued omission creates a concrete risk that operations will end without proper oversight of where the funds go, leaving player assets insufficiently protected. She also cited Article 8, § 1º, of Provisional Measure No. 1.394/2026, which requires restitution funds to remain segregated and unavailable for other uses.

One of the platforms named in the case is Blaze, which is also under separate Federal Police investigation over alleged hidden ownership by lawyer Willer Tomaz. According to the PF, data recovered from Tomaz’s phone indicate that the platform may have operated at the same address as a company linked to him.