The president of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region, João Batista Moreira, accepted the request from the Attorney General's Office (AGU) and suspended the license for accredited bets in Rio de Janeiro to operate throughout Brazil, regardless of the regulatory process initiated by the Ministry of Finance.
"Even though conceived as a public service of state competence, federal control of the activity is not dispensed with, without which there is, effectively, a risk to public order,” states a section of the decision made by the president of the TRF1, judge João Batista Moreira.
According to the AGU, the decision of the Justice of the Federal District invaded a role that belongs to the Union, to establish national rules on the exploitation of this type of betting. The legislation of the sector allows states to exploit the activity only within their own territory.
For the AGU, allowing a state to authorize operators to explore the service throughout the national territory could lead to competition among the other federal entities, generating losses of the minimum requirements for cybersecurity, responsible gaming, financial soundness of the operators, and combating money laundering.
The AGU claims that Loterj does not guarantee that the service is performed only in the territory of Rio de Janeiro, besides not having yet issued regulation provided in the Money Laundering Law (Law No. 9.613/1998) to regulate the compliance with the obligations of prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT).
In a statement, Loterj stated that the decision does not change its operation or that of its accredited.
Read the full statement below:
The State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro (Loterj) informs that the recent decision of the Federal Regional Court (TRF) does not alter its operations or those of its accredited. The operation of Loterj continues to be supported by the eighth paragraph of article 35-A of Law 14.790, and not by ordinances or injunctions.
The TRF1 only suspended the effects of the decision related to the ordinances of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) of the Ministry of Finance, which will only have an impact from January 2025, until the judgment of the appeal filed by the Union.
Regarding sports betting (bets), Loterj highlights that it is currently the only source of revenue for the Union, since the companies listed by Secretary Régis Dudena remain exempt from any tax collection. These companies have not had their license applications analyzed, have not paid the grant, are not collecting taxes, and there is no forecast for the analysis of these processes.
It is important to highlight that, for every real collected by the State of Rio de Janeiro with the legalized operation of betting, the Union is contemplated with eight times more in taxes.
Finally, unlike the Union, Loterj already applies the control restrictions immediately, while the Union has been allowing the operation of bets by companies based in tax havens, without any criteria and control.
Source: GMB
