Brazil's Supreme Court freezes up to R$6 billion of lawyer Willer Tomaz in betting-linked laundering inquiry that also names Flávio Bolsonaro

What Moraes ordered

According to g1, Moraes lifted bank, tax and foreign-exchange secrecy over Tomaz and the companies Alcazar Brasil Ltda, Alcazar Holdings Unipessoal, Alcazar Global Holdings and Catedral – Holdings SGPS. Agência Brasil reported that Alcazar Holdings is based in Madeira, Portugal.

Banks and financial institutions must send, within 24 hours, information on the companies' accounts, including former and current co-holders, with particular attention to the Alcazar entities. Brazil's financial intelligence unit (Coaf), the Central Bank and the securities regulator (CVM) are to be notified so the freezes can be carried out.

The measures followed the PF's finding that Tomaz had travelled to Miami on August 21, shortly after a phase of Operation Sem Desconto, which is investigating fraud involving social security (INSS) pensions and benefits. TV Globo's Jornal Nacional reported that Tomaz is also being investigated for money laundering in the INSS fraud case.

The inquiry and the betting companies

The case began in the federal courts in Rio Grande do Sul, where investigators were looking at money laundering, currency evasion and the use of betting companies, g1 reported on October 18. The PF accessed Tomaz's email and cloud storage and found messages indicating that Flávio Bolsonaro had been registered as a "master user" of a Santander bank account belonging to Alcazar Holdings, a company owned by Tomaz, according to the Federal Police report cited by g1. According to the PF report quoted by g1, Tomaz requested the removal of that access in an email dated May 22, 2025.

Because Flávio Bolsonaro is a senator and can only be investigated with STF authorisation, the case moved to the Supreme Court on October 8. The Prosecutor General's Office supported opening the inquiry, and Moraes was assigned as rapporteur.

The PF report, as quoted by g1, says there are indications that Tomaz has de facto control of Rede Loto, the first company authorised by Rio de Janeiro's state lottery, Loterj, to run fixed-odds sports betting in the state. It also says Tomaz appears to be the de facto owner of RioPag, which operates games in Rio, although his name is not on its shareholder register. Investigators are also examining large transfers from Tomaz to Blaze, whose Brazilian operator is Foggo Entertainment.

Separately, a technical note from the Ministry of Finance's Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA), first reported by UOL on October 20, identified Tomaz as the individual with the highest combined deposits and withdrawals on Brazil's licensed betting platforms in 2025. The note does not accuse Tomaz of money laundering. It criticises Blaze's monitoring of his account, and the ministry has opened an administrative sanctions proceeding against the operator. Blaze says it complies with the law and has anti-money laundering and transaction monitoring controls.

What the defence and Flávio Bolsonaro say

Tomaz's defence said the orders amount to a "fishing expedition", an indiscriminate search for evidence, in the middle of the election period, and that Tomaz has no connection to the INSS fraud. It said it is "false" that Flávio Bolsonaro was a master user of the Alcazar account, adding that the two are friends and "one never moved the other's funds". The lawyers also sent g1 a Santander document dated October 23 that, according to the lawyers, shows Tomaz as the account's only master user and does not include Flávio Bolsonaro's name in its history of added, changed or removed users. g1 said it had asked Santander for comment.

When the inquiry was first reported, Tomaz said Rede Loto "never operated as a betting platform" and that Catedral is only an asset holding company. Flávio Bolsonaro's defence said the relationship between the two is a friendship between their families, that any attempt to suggest wrongdoing from it is "mere inference", and that the senator never held an account on which Tomaz or any of his companies was the master user.

What comes next

The freeze, the secrecy waivers and the suspension of Tomaz's companies are precautionary measures. No charges have been filed against Tomaz or Flávio Bolsonaro in this inquiry. Brazilians vote in the presidential runoff between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro on October 25, the same day the remaining federal fixed-odds betting authorisations reach their legal end date under Provisional Measure 1.394/2026.