An ongoing investigation that involves Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has raised wider questions about ownership transparency, anti-money laundering controls and regulatory oversight in the country’s betting industry.
The Supreme Court inquiry focuses on alleged links between Bolsonaro and betting brand BestBet, the investigation has also brought attention to the activities of lawyer Willer Tomaz. The most significant developments concerns Blaze, which is a a separately operated betting platform where Tomaz reportedly placed billions of reais in bets during 2025.
Blaze faces scrutiny over high-value betting activity
Brazil’s Ministry of Finance released a report on October 1, signed by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), that identified Tomaz as the country’s biggest depositor on fixed-odds betting platforms in 2025. The report by UOL, mentioned that he deposited more than R$258m and withdrew approximately R$200m through Blaze. His activity generated around R$5bn in betting turnover.
Administrative cases have been initiated by the SPA against Blaze. Investigators from the Federal Police are going through the transactions of R$1.4bn between Tomaz and Blaze. Reports say that inquiries are being made about his hidden ownership in Blaze. Both of them are denying the accusations.
Ownership and state-issued licence questions
The investigation revealed the inadequacies of the control of ownership regarding Brazil’s initial licensing process on betting.
Rede Loto which owns BestBet was granted the first-ever state betting license by Rio de Janeiro’s Loterj in May 2023. The entire equity is owned by Cathedral Holdings, a business that is based in Madeira and linked to Tomaz. The documents for licensing from Rede Loto were filed in April 2023 and approval was given in May 2023 which means it took the state about a month to process the application.
The case raises doubts over how the authorities assess applicants with respect to the true owners in the presence of offshore holding companies. There are contradicting descriptions of BestBet’s business activities. Rede Loto insisted that the project was never launched on the market while financial reports and statistics claim otherwise.
Legal battle between Tomaz and Blaze
Tomaz is also suing Blaze for R$163m for issues arising from gambling addiction, as Tomaz claimed a VIP manager acted inappropriately by helping Tomaz get around restrictions on the amount he could bet. His request to freeze R$145m of Blaze’s assets was denied in court last October, which noted that Tomaz had made a request for bets of R$500,000 and took the risks voluntarily.
The investigation against Bolsonaro is related to his alleged connections with BestBet, which he denied. No charges have been issued against either him or Tomaz.
These cases could also affect future rules on licenses if Brazil’s regulated betting market opens in the future, especially concerning the rules on beneficial ownership and finance.