A Brazilian court has ordered the freezing of up to R$3.483 billion in accounts and assets as part of a police investigation into illegal betting and suspected money laundering, in an operation reaching the Federal District and five states.

The freeze covers 64 individuals and 120 companies, according to reports citing investigators and court documents. The figure is the ceiling set by the court for the freeze, not an amount proven to have been laundered.

Shell companies and Pix payments

Investigators say illegal betting operators channelled money from bettors through Pix, Brazil's instant payment system, into shell companies, including firms presented as clinics and shops. The scheme is believed to have moved more than R$1 billion since last year, according to the investigation.

Police also searched A55 Sociedade de Credito, a Sao Paulo fintech authorised by the Central Bank as a direct credit company. Investigators say funds from illegal betting were sent to A55 and that the fintech allegedly moved about R$1 billion in transactions linked to the case. Those figures are attributed to investigators and are not final judicial findings.

A five-month investigation

The investigation, known as Operation Azzardo, began five months earlier after reports from the Finance Ministry's Prize and Betting Secretariat to police in the Federal District. Search warrants were executed across the Federal District and five states.

Wider betting crackdown

The operation comes as Brazil enforces a ban on fixed-odds sports betting and online casinos under Provisional Measure 1,394, in force since 25 September. The Supreme Federal Court held a public hearing on the ban on 3 November and has yet to rule on whether it stands.

[Source: CiberLATAM](https://ciberlatam.com/en/news/brazil-probes-fintech-a55-illegal) | [Source: iGaming Fox](https://igamingfox.com/news/mahadev-book-co-founder-ravi-uppal-arrested-in-dubai)