Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts, the TCU, has handed down the most far-reaching audit yet conducted of the federal government’s response to the country’s vast illegal online betting market.
Meeting in extraordinary session, the Plenary of the court approved Acórdão 1296/2026, the conclusion of process TC 015.852/2025-3, with Minister Jorge Oliveira as rapporteur.
The audit was directed at the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance (SPA-MF), with secondary recommendations addressed to the telecommunications regulator Anatel, the Central Bank, the Council for Financial Activities Control, the Federal Revenue Service, the criminal-prosecution bodies, the National Strategy to Combat Corruption and Money Laundering, and the Department of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation of the Ministry of Justice.
The TCU found that illegal operators account for between 41 and 51 per cent of total online betting volume in Brazil, equivalent to as much as R$40 billion in unlicensed annual turnover.
In the first half of 2026 alone, the legal market generated R$17.4 billion in gross gaming revenue and R$3.8 billion in federal tax, with R$2.14 billion earmarked for social allocations across health, sport, social security and tourism. Meanwhile, the total bettor base reached 17.7 million people, with an average monthly spend of around R$164 each. The Bolsa Família finding is the most politically charged. In August 2024, beneficiaries of the federal welfare programme transferred the equivalent of R$3 billion to online betting platforms, the equivalent of 21 per cent of total programme transfers in that month.
The court was particularly critical on the gaming board itself, identifying a lack of technological tools and standard operating procedures for the detection of illegal sites, weak coordination with other federal bodies, and a sanctioning regime that has so far failed to make a significant impact. The most-cited illegal product in the audit is the Tigrinho slot, marketed under names including “Fortune Tiger”, which has become shorthand in Brazil for the unregulated end of the market.
The court called for a permanent inter-institutional coordination mechanism, led by SPA-MF, to bring together every federal body with jurisdiction over the sector; improved technology for the detection and blocking of illegal sites, jointly developed by SPA-MF and Anatel; a strengthened sanctioning regime co-designed with the Central Bank; and an informatised monitoring system for the National Strategy to Combat Corruption and Money Laundering.
Minister Oliveira said the ruling contributed to “more effective state action against money laundering through virtual games and bets”. The recommendations are not binding in the strict sense, but the TCU is the country’s highest fiscal-control body, and its findings shape the next budget cycle.
The post Brazilian Court of Accounts finds serious governance gaps in the response to illegal betting appeared first on G3 Newswire.
Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts, the TCU, has handed down the most far-reaching audit yet conducted of the federal government’s response to the country’s vast illegal online betting market. Meeting in extraordinary session, the Plenary of the court approved Acórdão 1296/2026, the conclusion of process TC 015.852/2025-3, with Minister Jorge Oliveira as rapporteur. The audit…
The post Brazilian Court of Accounts finds serious governance gaps in the response to illegal betting appeared first on G3 Newswire.