With the court's authorization to access bettors' data on Blaze, investigators hope to identify a second group involved in the scheme, also already indicted, who allegedly bet on the athlete after receiving a warning from the player himself.
The PF has already identified who the bettors are, based on preliminary information sent by Blaze. Now, the corporation is looking for details on the amounts bet and the profits obtained — data that has already been passed on by other betting houses, such as Betano, galera.bet and KTO.
The information requested from Blaze should be included in a supplementary report, which can be finalized within one month after the data is provided, thus concluding the PF's investigations.
At the time, in a statement, the betting house stated that it promptly responds to requests from the corporation and that the information restrictions occurred because there are impediments in the Internet Civil Rights Framework and the Money Laundering Law.
The initial indictment of the striker and nine other people is being analyzed by prosecutors from the Special Task Force to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco) of the Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories (MPDFT), who may file a complaint against the Flamengo player.
Bets in the rise
Betting houses told the Federal Police that more than 95% of the bets on the match between Flamengo and Santos, for the 2023 Brazilian Championship, were focused on the possibility of striker Bruno Henrique receiving a yellow card.
According to the bookmakers Betano, galera.bet and KTO, most of the volume bet, even before the start of the match, was directed at punishing the player.
Betano informed the Federal Police that 98% of the bets were on Bruno Henrique's card. galera.bet pointed out a concentration of 95% on the same issue. KTO confirmed that significant amounts of bets were directed at the athlete, although it did not specify the percentages.
Despite the movement, one of the bets made by the striker's brother, Wander Nunes Pinto Júnior, was blocked for withdrawal by one of the platforms. The reason, according to the bookmaker, was the identification of suspicious activity due to the unusual volume of bets on the penalty for the red-and-black player. He even asked to borrow money from the striker after it took so long to receive the money.
In messages seized from Wander's cell phone, investigators found a conversation between the two on December 9, 2023 — more than a month after the match between Flamengo and Santos for the Brazilian Championship.
Compromising dialogues
In the messages, Wander asks the red-and-black striker for a loan of R$4,000 (US$ 707) to pay off his credit card debts and child support. He explained that he didn't have “a single cent” and that, “just so you know, you know the thing about Santos that you gave me the idea for [the bet], they still haven't paid me (sic).”
“I put in [R$]3 [thousand] (US$ 530) to win [R$]12 [thousand] (US$ 2,100), and they blocked it due to suspicion. I'm thinking, if you can do this, you'll save me, from the bottom of my heart. Is it possible to deduct [R$]10 [thousand] (US$ 1,770) from the house, and you give it to me, then I'll pay everything here, I'll have some money left over to go to the beach and then I'll buy the house, I'll get that money back and replace it. Just like I told you: I wasn't going to ask you, but I don't have any other solution for anyone to turn to, please help me with this (sic),” asked the striker's brother.
For the Federal Police, the message indicates that, in the call on the eve of the match between the two teams, Bruno Henrique had warned that he would receive a yellow card so that Wander could win the bet.
In response, BH replied: “I didn’t understand anything you said here, Juninho (sic)”. And Wander replied: “Tell me, bro, what didn’t you understand?” Bruno Henrique replied: “This right here.”
Next, the message that the Federal Police considered to be one of the most impactful in the indictment shows the brother of the red-and-black striker explicitly mentioning the betting scheme.
“The day you gave me the idea for the card, I bet 3 thousand to win 12 thousand. But until today they haven’t paid, they put the bet under analysis, and the money is all stuck there 12K. So I was thinking about helping me with this one with 10 thousand just to sort out my things until this money comes out, pay the card, pay the children’s alimony that is late, settle down here. I didn’t want to ask you, but I have no other solution, I was even going to take out a loan to solve this but I couldn’t, the only solution I had to turn to is you. If you help me with this one, you will save me, I have nowhere else to turn, since I’m not going to buy the house now, take this money from the house as soon as I settle it I will refund this amount so I can settle down. Help me with this one please!,” wrote Wander in the WhatsApp message.
The conversation seized by the PF shows that the conversation between the two continued the following day, on December 10, when Bruno Henrique responded to his brother about the “loan”, saying that he would “look into” Wander’s case. The messages that the PF had access to show that, at 11:25 am on the same day, Bruno Henrique sent a kind of bank receipt to his brother.
“If you get the money, you’ll pay me back”. In response, Wander wrote: “This shit took a while to come out, I’ll send it to you.”
Messages
The following day, on December 10, Bruno Henrique responded regarding the loan, saying he would “check on it.” Later, at 11:25 a.m., he sent what appeared to be a bank transfer receipt. Wander replied: “As soon as this gets sorted, I’ll send it to you.”
Although the PF seized Bruno Henrique’s phone, they found no relevant messages—many conversations were either empty or deleted, which investigators interpret as potential evidence of message tampering. However, on Wander’s phone, agents located several messages supporting the theory that the player coordinated bets on receiving a yellow card.
In one exchange, Bruno reportedly gave his brother advance notice of when he might be booked. Wander even asked: “Do you think you can hold off getting a card until then?” Bruno replied that he would only get booked if he “went in hard on someone,” prompting Wander to say he’d “save up” for the bet, calling it a “successful investment.”
To the PF, these conversations suggest that Bruno Henrique and his brother were actively collaborating to manipulate betting outcomes related to yellow card infractions.
Source: Metrópoles
