The Federal Public Ministry and the Federal Revenue Service carried out Operation Shadow Play against the group responsible for a sports betting platform that moved more than R$ 5 billion in 2025 alone. The operation investigates suspicions of tax evasion, illegal money transfers abroad, and money laundering.
According to investigators, before the regulation of bets in Brazil, the group created a shell company in Curaçao, in the Caribbean, to simulate that the platform operated abroad. In practice, however, Brazilian companies operated the business. The foreign structure served to hide that the activity and revenues were generated in Brazil.
The investigation also examines how the money circulated. Part of the funds obtained in the country would have been sent abroad and, later, returned to Brazil as supposed payments for services. With this, according to the Revenue Service, the amounts could return with the appearance of legitimate money, in a money laundering scheme.
