In July, the Federal District court had already made the athlete a defendant for sports fraud. At the time, Judge Fernando Brandini Barbagalo, from the lower court, rejected including the fraud charge on the grounds that the complaint did not provide sufficient elements. He also noted that since the betting companies had not formally appeared in the case records, there would be no victim — and without a victim, there would be no fraud.
For the appellate judges, however, the existence of investigations conducted by institutions such as the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and Ibia (International Betting Integrity Association) is already sufficient to support the continuation of the criminal action.
Bruno Henrique is accused of informing his brother, Wander Nunes Junior, that he would receive a yellow card in the match between Flamengo and Santos in the 2023 Brazilian Championship. According to the complaint, Wander bet on the occurrence of the card and passed the information on to others.
In the sports sphere, the athlete was only fined by the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) and continued playing normally, taking part in the final stages of this year’s Brazilian league and the Copa Libertadores final.
In a statement, the player’s defense criticized the new ruling.
“The defense of athlete Bruno Henrique received with indignation the news of the ruling that accepted the MPDFT’s appeal to open a criminal case regarding an alleged fraud crime, a decision that contradicts the well-founded ruling of the lower-court judge. Trusting in the Judiciary, an appeal will be filed with the competent bodies, which will again demonstrate the clear mistake in the complaint.”
The appeal will be taken to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
Source: Folha
