Brazil's Federal District Civil Police launched Operation Azzardo on Thursday, November 5, targeting a network suspected of running illegal betting and laundering money. Police say bettors' money from illegal websites passed through fintech A55 Sociedade de Credito Direto and related companies: about $183 million at the exchange rate of November 5.
Players transferred funds via Pix, and payments flowed into more than 100 accounts opened at A55 Sociedade de Credito, headquartered in São Paulo. Some payments went to companies that, according to their documents, did something else: a psychosocial care clinic and a tarot shop in Sobradinho. Part of the money was later converted into crypto assets.
Police estimate movements between the organizations under investigation at $135 million. Transactions analyzed total R$739 million, and across the A55 group turnover reaches about $183 million. The court authorized asset freezes of up to $638 million. The freeze covers accounts and assets of 64 individuals and 120 companies. This is a ceiling, not the amount seized: the limit is set at R$3.483 billion.
The regulator was already looking at A55 before the searches. On July 30, the Central Bank published communiqué No. 45.658, announcing its intention to revoke the company's license. A final revocation has not yet been issued.
For the betting market, the target itself matters. Since September 25, Brazil has been operating under Provisional Measure No. 1.394/2026, which banned organizing, offering, brokering and advertising fixed-odds bets without federal authorization. For payment intermediaries, this means checks now focus on recipients of Pix payments, not just bookmaker websites.
The next step on A55's license depends on the Central Bank of Brazil, while the criminal case is run by the police.
