Brazil’s Biggest Bettor Gambled More Than $1B, Police Probe Possible Money Laundering

A Brazilian lawyer under investigation for suspected money laundering wagered over $1 billion online in 2025 and part of 2026, while a betting site linked to him generated just $42,000 in revenue over 18 months, according to newly revealed documents.

Willer Tomaz, a close friend of presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, is being investigated by Brazil’s Federal Police over suspicious financial transactions on online gambling platforms and whether some of those transactions may have been used to disguise the movement of money.

Court documents obtained by CNN Brasil show that Tomaz wagered R$6.6 billion ($1.3 billion) on casino games on Blaze alone, making more than 53,000 bets and suffering net losses of approximately $29 million.

According to a separate Finance Ministry report, Tomaz placed R$5 billion (approximately $995 million) in bets in 2025, largely through Blaze.

These figures represent wagering turnover, including winnings repeatedly staked, not the amount he deposited or lost. Nevertheless, it was enough to make Tomaz Brazil’s biggest online gambler of 2025, according to authorities.

Officials said he deposited more than R$258 million ($51 million) and withdrew around R$200 million ($40 million). His deposits were nearly double those of Brazil’s next-biggest bettor.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva effectively dismantled the country’s newly regulated online betting market last month, ordering licensed sportsbooks and online casinos to shut down by Oct. 6. Efforts to return outstanding player funds in the wake of the ban have led to the discovery of suspicious accounts, uncluding Tomaz’s.

Blaze Under Fire

The Finance Ministry report criticized Blaze’s anti-money-laundering controls, alleging that the operator failed to adequately scrutinize Tomaz’s extraordinary betting activity. It cited one day on which he made 14 deposits of R$500,000 apiece and another when he made 12 withdrawals of the same amount in just 18 minutes.

Blaze said it complies with gambling regulations and operates rigorous transaction-monitoring procedures. Tomaz insists his funds were legally obtained and declared to tax authorities, and disputes the government’s figures.

Tomaz has separately sued Blaze to recover R$163 million (approximately $32 million) in alleged gambling losses, claiming he suffers from gambling addiction.

A São Paulo judge rejected his claim last week, noting that Tomaz had personally requested exclusive blackjack tables with betting limits of up to R$500,000 ($99,000) per hand.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva effectively dismantled the country’s newly regulated online betting market last month, ordering licensed sportsbooks and online casinos to close down by Oct. 6.

Efforts to return player funds in the wake of the shutdown have revealed suspicious accounts, including Tomaz’s.

Betting Site Falls Short

On Wednesday (Oct. 21), Folha de S.Paulo reported that BestBet, an online gambling site controlled through companies linked to Tomaz, earned only R$210,000 ($42,000) between December 2023 and June 2025.

Its operator, Rede Loto, had paid R$5 million (roughly $1 million) for a five-year license from Rio de Janeiro’s state lottery regulator, Loterj. BestBet had forecast R$2.1 million in revenue by the end of 2025, ten times its reported takings over the 18 months examined.

Tomaz claims that BestBet never actually operated. However, Folha said filings submitted to Loterj documented revenue, while company correspondence described advertising through social media, email, and physical signage.

Presidential Connection

The revelations come as Brazil’s Federal Police seek to establish whether Flávio Bolsonaro, who faces incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday’s presidential runoff, held an undisclosed interest in BestBet, according to an investigation by magazine piauí.

Bolsonaro is the son of Jair Bolsonaro, the former right-wing populist president, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election.

BestBet was owned by Rede Loto, itself controlled by Cathedral Holdings, a company established by Tomaz on Portugal’s Madeira island. Cathedral and another Madeira company, Alcazar Holdings, share the same owner, administrator, and registered address, according to piauí, which also identified apparent financial links between them.

Documents reviewed by piauí reportedly identified Bolsonaro and Tomaz as privileged “master users” of an Alcazar bank account, which both men deny. The magazine said police had asked Brazil’s Supreme Court to authorize an investigation into whether Bolsonaro was a concealed investor.

A Cathedral-linked business also paid for private-jet flights taken by Bolsonaro in Europe, Folha reported.

Tomaz has denied wrongdoing and insists Bolsonaro never owned any interest in BestBet. Bolsonaro’s campaign has described their relationship as purely a friendship and rejected suggestions of misconduct.