Hacienda suspends Pixbet's license in Brazil
The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Brazilian Ministry of Finance determined on August 13 the suspension of Pixbet Soluções Tecnológicas' license, a precautionary measure motivated by the absence of mechanisms to monitor compulsive gamblers and the failure to submit mandatory documentation to the agency. The suspension affects the three platforms covered by the license, pix.bet.br, ganhei.bet.br, and betdasorte.bet.br, although the sites may remain online solely for users to withdraw remaining balances from their accounts, while bets already placed that have not yet concluded must be canceled and refunded to the player.
According to local press, the company has up to ten days to appeal, and in case of non-compliance with the suspension, a daily fine of 200,000 reais, approximately 38,500 dollars, will be applied. The measure does not affect the state licenses the company holds in Paraná and Rio de Janeiro, where it can continue to operate normally. On the same day of the suspension, Pixbet was also the subject of Operation Arena, an investigation launched by the Federal Police seeking to clarify an alleged money laundering and currency evasion scheme that would involve the company, although the suspension is not directly related to the operation.
As part of the operation, Pixbet's owner, Ernildo Júnior, was approached by the Federal Police in Campina Grande, where his car and cell phone were seized as part of a search and seizure warrant, according to Brazilian media reports. Lawyer Nelson Wilians, founder of one of the country's largest law firms, is also among the targets of the investigation, in which he is suspected of being involved in money laundering for companies linked to Pixbet, in a scheme that would have involved sending remittances corresponding to gambling winnings abroad. According to these versions, the money would have been sent through financial clearing companies and received by a shell company in Curaçao, to then be re-sent to Brazil with an appearance of legality. In a statement released on his social networks, signed by lawyer Santiago Schunk, Wilians denied the accusations and maintained that the services provided to Pixbet are strictly professional and limited to legal activities, unrelated to the bookmaker's business movements.
According to reports, the Federal Police lifted the telematics and banking secrecy of those under investigation and seized 1.1 billion reais, approximately 211.9 million dollars, in actions carried out in the states of Paraíba, Sergipe, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Paraná. In addition to the Federal Police, the Federal Public Ministry and the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting itself participated in the operation, and the suspects could face charges for currency evasion, money laundering, and crimes against the national financial system.
Tags: Pixbet, Awards and Betting Secretariat, Arena Operation, Nelson Wilians