Brazil's Top Judge Warns Illegal Betting Sites Fuel Organized Crime Money Laundering

Edson Fachin, President of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) and the National Council of Justice (CNJ), has sounded the alarm over criminal organisations using unlicensed betting platforms to launder money and move illicit funds. Speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the National Network of Magistrates with Jurisdiction over Organised Crime in Brasília, Fachin stated that illegal online gambling outlets have become a preferred tool for sophisticated criminal networks.

According to Fachin, organised crime now exploits these platforms alongside crypto-assets and seemingly legitimate corporate structures to conceal and transfer proceeds from drug trafficking, smuggling, and corruption. He emphasised that the problem has a strong transnational dimension, requiring a coordinated state response. “Clandestine platforms are used as tools by criminal organisations,” he said, adding that they facilitate money laundering and the creation of corporate fronts.

The newly established National Network, created by CNJ Ordinance No. 142/2026, aims to strengthen cooperation among judges across the country. Participants will share intelligence, strategies, and best practices, with a particular focus on understanding organised crime’s evolving modus operandi. Topics set for study include tracing digital assets, exploiting instant payment systems, using digital “mule” accounts to hide funds, and the role of betting platforms licensed in jurisdictions with loose oversight.

Fachin stressed that tackling these crimes demands close collaboration between the judiciary, police, and federal agencies such as the Federal Revenue Service, the Council for Financial Activities Control (Coaf), the Central Bank, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. “A state response to networked crime necessarily requires a judiciary that is also organised as a network,” he noted. He underscored that “combatting organised crime, in its most sophisticated technological and financial forms, transcends the isolated actions of any single entity.”

The STF president is scheduled to meet with Finance Minister Dario Durigan on Wednesday. During that meeting, Durigan will brief him on Brazil’s sports betting regulatory framework and steps being taken to clamp down on illegal operators. Fachin has made clear that his concern relates specifically to clandestine platforms, not the regulated market. “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. He is calling for stricter financial regulation to address what he describes as a structurally significant issue in Brazil.