Bahia prosecutors sue Nuoro Pay, Select Credit, and Cartos over payment support for illegal betting sites

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Bahia has filed a civil lawsuit against three financial companies — Nuoro Pay Instituição de Pagamento, Select Credit Sociedade de Crédito, and Cartos Sociedade de Crédito Direto — over their alleged role in processing or enabling payments for illegal betting sites. For high-risk PSPs, the important bit is simple: prosecutors are treating payment support, infrastructure, and related services as part of the enforcement target, not just the betting operators themselves.

1. The lawsuit was filed by the Bahia state prosecutor against Nuoro Pay Instituição de Pagamento, Select Credit Sociedade de Crédito, and Cartos Sociedade de Crédito Direto. According to the investigation, the first two companies acted as intermediaries for payments on illegal sportsbook sites, while Cartos provided technology and infrastructure.
2. The case began after a player complaint. The complainant said they lost more than 100,000 reais on grey-market sites, and the complaint was also sent to the Ministry of Finance, COAF, the Central Bank, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Paraná, the Federal Revenue Service, and the Federal Police.
3. During the investigation, prosecutors found 1,536 player complaints linked to Nuoro Pay. Those complaints were classified as refund requests, financial advice, and complaints about unresolved issues.
4. In the court action, the Bahia prosecutor is asking to dissolve all three companies and freeze their assets, rights, and financial assets for up to 5 million reais.

For payment firms working anywhere near gaming, the message is not subtle: in this kind of enforcement file, “we only provided infrastructure” is not a shield if prosecutors think that infrastructure helped grey-market wagering move money.