Brazil says it will sue eight betting firms over refund data

> Update, 15 October 2026: The lawsuit described below is the plan Secom announced on 10 October. Under the government timetable, the banks' refund window ran from 9 to 14 October, and balances they could not pay go to Caixa.

Brazil's federal government says its Attorney General's Office (AGU), the government's legal service, will take eight former betting operators to court because they did not send banks the data needed to refund their players. The announcement came on Saturday 10 October in a release from the Presidency's communications office (Secom): the eight missed the 7 October deadline to give the banks each player's balance, broken down by CPF (the Brazilian taxpayer number), together with the bank account the player used to deposit. According to Secom, the AGU "ingressará com ação judicial" (will file a lawsuit) to force them to hand it over.

Why the data matters

Under the shutdown rules of Provisional Measure (MP) 1.394/2026, money left in accounts after the voluntary withdrawal window closed at 23:59 on 5 October does not go back through the betting sites. The banks that held the operators' accounts pay it out, and they can only do that if they know who is owed what and where to send it. Secom said this data is needed for the banks to make the refunds.

The Finance Ministry's betting secretariat (SPA) set the rules in Ordinance 3.005/2026: operators had to report final balances to the SPA by 7 October, including each player's CPF, the amount to be returned and the bank details for the refund, and the date they sent that data to the banks.

How much is still owed

As of 10 October, operators reported R$159 million still to be returned, covering 22.5 million players across 70.5 million accounts. Most of it is small change: 90% of those accounts hold less than R$1 and 97% less than R$10.

When the withdrawal window closed on 5 October, the reported figure was about R$1.2 billion. How it fell to R$159 million depends on whose wording you read. The release says the current amount "resulta da atualização dos dados pelas empresas" (results from the companies updating the data). Brazil's public news agency, Agência Brasil, reported it as more than R$1 billion returned to players. An SPA bulletin cited by the Justice Ministry on 6 October had put the outstanding total at R$1.325 billion across about 26.5 million players.

The refund calendar

• 9 to 14 October (bank window, now ended under the government timetable): the banks that worked with the operators were to return balances automatically, using the data the operators sent them. Valor Investe reports the transfer was to go preferably to the account the money came from, if it is still active and in the player's name; another account in the player's name could also be used.
• From 14–15 October: money the banks could not return, for example because of incomplete data or a closed account, goes to a dedicated account at Caixa Econômica Federal, the state-owned bank, which acts as the go-between for the remaining refunds. Brasil sem Bets tells players to contact Caixa from 14 October; the Finance Ministry's timetable has Caixa acting from 15 October.

The Finance Ministry says guidance for players at the Caixa stage will be released through official channels. In the meantime, according to O Globo, the government advises players to keep proof of deposits, screenshots of their balance and any support ticket numbers, and to use only official government and bank channels to avoid scams.

Enforcement against illegal sites

The same release gives an update on blocking. Between 25 September and 9 October, 16,627 illegal betting sites were sent for blocking. Secom said 2,979 more sites and platforms were identified on 8 and 9 October alone. Authorities also asked platforms to remove 3,691 pages, profiles, channels, groups and servers: 1,974 on Facebook, 560 on Instagram, 1,027 on Telegram, 115 on TikTok, 14 on WhatsApp and one Discord server.

What it means for players

• If you had money with a formerly licensed operator: check the bank account you used to deposit. The government timetable set the automatic bank refunds for 9 to 14 October.
• If nothing arrived: the government's Brasil sem Bets page says to contact Caixa Econômica Federal from 14 October; the Finance Ministry says player guidance will come through official channels. Agência Brasil advises players to be wary of messages that charge a fee to release the money.
• If your operator is one of the eight: Secom says the planned lawsuit would aim to force those companies to hand over the data so the refunds can go ahead.

For the background, see how the refund process started when the sites went dark, the provisional measure behind the ban, the ANJL challenge at the STF and the AGU's STF challenge to the federal betting laws.

18+. If gambling has stopped feeling like a pastime, see responsible play. In Brazil, the government's Brasil sem Bets page points to support at gov.br/bets.