São Paulo Police arrest 3 in probe tied to illegal online betting platforms, financial fraud and money laundering

Three people were arrested in a Tuesday (13) operation by the São Paulo Civil Police against a group suspected of running illegal online betting platforms, carrying out financial fraud and laundering money. For high-risk payment businesses, the useful part is not the drama; it is that the case started from consumer complaints and ended with asset freezes, bank secrecy orders and telematics access.

1. The operation, named Operação Disque 151, was led by the State Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic) through the 3rd Police District of the General Investigations Division (DIG).
2. Police said the investigation began after millions of complaints were filed with Procon-SP. The authorities also identified more than 10 million bettors and victims connected to the platforms under investigation.
3. In total, three temporary arrest warrants and six search-and-seizure warrants were issued, along with orders to break banking and telematics secrecy.
4. The court also froze about R$ 154 million in assets and funds involving six individuals and five legal entities, after the investigation identified more than R$ 38 million in bank transactions.