Brazil Questions Blaze Over 629 Bets of R$500K or More

The figures come from a Finance Ministry technical note dated October 1 and first disclosed by UOL on October 20. The document questions the controls used by Foggo Entertainment, which operates Blaze in Brazil.

Seven Small Reports, One Customer With R$258M in Deposits

The customer was lawyer Willer Tomaz. He deposited more than R$258 million (about $51.5 million) into Blaze during 2025 and made bets totalling roughly R$5 billion (about $997.2 million). His withdrawals came to approximately R$200 million (about $39.9 million). All USD equivalents use the October 20 PTAX rate of R$5.014 per $1.

The R$5 billion figure includes money won and subsequently wagered again. It should not be treated as an additional R$5 billion deposited into the platform.

The regulator found that none of Tomaz’s activity had been selected for AML analysis, despite the amounts involved. The seven transactions reported to Coaf concerned much smaller wagers by other customers.

Figures published by EXAME show that 394 of Tomaz’s 629 high-value bets were placed at exactly R$500,000. That works out to 62.6% of the group. Four other bets reached R$1 million (about $199,400).

R$7M Deposited in 14 Transfers

On October 30, 2025, Tomaz made five R$500,000 deposits within an hour in the morning. He repeated the pattern in the afternoon, then added four more deposits that evening. By the end of the day, R$7 million (about $1.4 million) had entered his account.

The following day brought another sequence: 12 withdrawals of R$500,000, completed in just 18 minutes. The total was R$6 million (about $1.2 million).

Blaze kept Tomaz in the medium-risk category throughout 2025, unchanged from his registration in January. According to Brazil’s betting AML regulations, it is required that operators examine unusual activity. However, a large bet does not necessarily mean that a Coaf report needs to be filed. The ministry found no documented AML review of Tomaz’s transactions.

Foggo Disputes the Findings

Foggo told Folha de S.Paulo that its AML procedures comply with Brazilian law. It denied any ownership or management ties to Tomaz.

Tomaz maintains that his funds were legitimate and tax-declared, but disputes the ministry’s figures. He also rejects allegations of automated betting and deliberate transaction splitting.

Fines and temporary suspension were suggested by the SPA staff. The October 1 technical note imposed no penalties and did not establish money laundering.