Brazil launches Operation Conto da Sorte against illegal betting scheme involving 37 companies and BRL50 billion

Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service has opened Operation Conto da Sorte, its first major coordinated move against illegal betting. For high-risk operators and PSPs, the key point is simple: the authorities are now pairing tax enforcement with criminal and state-level investigations, and they are already freezing assets.

1. On Thursday, the Federal Revenue Service launched Operation Conto da Sorte together with state Public Prosecutors’ offices. The case exposed an illegal betting scheme involving 37 companies and an estimated financial movement of BRL50 billion ($9.7 billion).
2. Minister of Finance Dario Durigan confirmed the information and said there is zero tolerance for illegal bets. The federal government said the operation will be intensified to support the sustainability of the legal iGaming market in Brazil.
3. The operation executed 14 search and seizure warrants in Pernambuco, Ceará and São Paulo. Authorities said the goal was to collect documents and media and verify the real structure of the companies under investigation. The court also ordered the freezing of up to BRL145 million in assets, which may be used to compensate for damages caused by the illegal activity.
4. Investigators say the group built dozens of companies tied to gambling, betting and payment processing, then formally transferred many of them to third parties without the economic capacity to run them. Some of those individuals were even recipients of emergency aid, while financial control stayed with the scheme’s leaders.
5. Authorities also said some of the companies did not physically exist and served only as mules for banking transactions. The alleged conduct includes money laundering, tax evasion, real estate purchases with illicit funds, and failure to transfer net betting revenue, which is an obligation under Brazil’s sector rules.

The scheme reportedly gained traction after Bodó (RN) City Hall created the LOTSERIDÓ autonomous agency and began irregularly accrediting betting companies. Even after the agency was shut down, the companies kept operating without authorization from the SPA. The case reached the Supreme Federal Court, which confirmed that municipalities do not have the authority to authorize gambling and betting.