Brazil’s Justice Ministry sets procedure to reclaim more than R$ 1 billion from illegal betting operators

The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has formalized the administrative path for forfeiture proceedings over blocked funds tied to illegal fixed-odds betting operators. For PSPs and high-risk payment teams, the key point is simple: Brazil is now turning blocked betting proceeds into a defined legal process, with the National Public Security Fund (FNSP) as the intended destination if the cases clear both administrative and judicial hurdles.

1. Ordinance No. 1.287/2026, signed on Wednesday (2) by Minister Wellington César Lima e Silva, establishes the internal workflow for preparing forfeiture cases involving blocked resources linked to irregular betting activity. The ministry says the amount at stake could exceed R$ 1 billion.
2. The procedure is designed to let funds blocked from irregular bets de quota fixa (fixed-odds betting) be incorporated into the Union’s assets only after due administrative process and a judicial forfeiture decision. If that happens, the money is to be directed to the FNSP.
3. The process will be handled by the National Public Security Secretariat (Senasp), through the Directorate for the Management of the National Public Security Fund (DGFNSP). That unit will receive case files from the Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, review the documentation, open and instruct the proceedings, and issue the first-instance administrative decision.
4. If the first-instance decision still supports forfeiture, the case will go to the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) for review and the judicial action considered appropriate. In other words: the ministry has now set the relay race, but the money does not move just because the paperwork started.
5. According to national public security secretary Chico Lucas, the ordinance creates the conditions to convert illegal betting proceeds into public security funding. He said the potential amount above R$ 1 billion could strengthen the FNSP and increase investment capacity in the states and the Federal District.

The ordinance also sets out the taxpayer-style basics that matter in these cases: a Procedural Instruction Commission with at least three public servants, formal review of documents and evidence, a 15-day deadline for the interested party to present a defense, and a 10-day administrative appeal window against the first-instance decision. The appeal will be reviewed by the Minister of Justice and Public Security.