Brazil Supreme Court president warns illegal betting platforms are used to move illicit funds
Justice Edson Fachin, President of the STF and CNJ, stated organised crime has infiltrated illegal online betting operations to move illicit funds.
He made this statement on Tuesday during the launch of the National Network of Magistrates with Jurisdiction over Organised Crime in Brasília.
Fachin noted that organised crime operates in complex ways across digital platforms. These entities utilise crypto-assets, seemingly legitimate business structures and electronic betting markets to move illicit funds.
He observed that illegal betting sites are being used as tools by criminal organisations involved in money laundering, asset concealment and the financing of crimes such as drug trafficking, smuggling and corruption—activities that also possess a significant transnational dimension.
“Tackling this phenomenon requires financial intelligence, cooperation among the Federal Revenue Service, the Council for Financial Activities Control (Coaf), the Central Bank, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and law enforcement agencies, as well as the tracking of crypto-assets,” he said. “A state response to networked crime necessarily requires a judiciary that is also organised as a network.”
He emphasised that “combatting organised crime, in its most sophisticated technological and financial forms, transcends the isolated actions of any single entity”.
Modus operandi of organised crime
The National Network was established by CNJ Ordinance No. 142/2026. Its objective is to expand cooperation among judges across the country. It provides for the sharing of information, strategies, best practices and continuing education initiatives to combat increasingly sophisticated criminal organisations.
Among the group’s priorities is enhancing the judiciary’s technical understanding of organised crime’s ways of operating. Topics such as digital asset tracing, instant payment systems, digital “mule” accounts used to conceal funds, and betting platforms licensed in countries or jurisdictions with lax regulation are among the subjects to be studied and discussed by participants.
According to Fachin, organised crime has shifted from activities like bank robberies and kidnappings to the exploitation of illegal betting operations. He noted that these platforms serve as instruments for money laundering and the creation of corporate fronts.
“Clandestine platforms are used as tools by criminal organisations,” he said. “These platforms can facilitate money laundering, the establishment of seemingly legitimate corporate structures, and integration with other illicit activities.”
Meeting at the Ministry of Finance
On Wednesday, Edson Fachin will meet with the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan. During the meeting, he will receive information from the minister regarding the betting market. Durigan will present the full scope of sports betting regulation in Brazil and measures to curb illegal betting operations.
The STF president has highlighted the Judiciary’s concern regarding the growth of clandestine betting platforms. In his statements on the subject, he reinforces the argument that illegal betting platforms are being used by organized crime. In his view, combatting illegal betting is a duty of the State. “I am not referring to the regulated market, but rather to clandestine platforms and companies that have been used as instruments by criminal organisations,” he recently stated.
For Fachin, the relationship between organised crime and illegal betting operations in Brazil is a structurally significant issue. He advocates for strict financial regulation to address the problem.