On August 13, Brazil's Finance Ministry, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, conducted Operation Arena targeting a group of companies linked to the iGaming operator Pixbet.
Investigators suspect the individuals involved of illegally transferring currency and laundering funds from bets through foreign corporate and financial structures. Throughout the day, authorities executed 19 search warrants across five states, including Pixbet's headquarters.
They secured a court order to freeze assets amounting to up to $211 million and gained access to the banking data and correspondence of the suspects. Additionally, law enforcement seized a vehicle and a phone belonging to Pixbet owner Ernildo Junior.
On the same day, the Finance Ministry issued a separate decision to suspend the operations of the operator and its domains rix.bet.br, ganhei.bet.br, and betdasorte.bet.br due to unsubmitted reports. Pixbet failed to provide the necessary information to the regulator for monitoring and oversight, which now obligates them to cancel accepted bets and refund players. A daily fine of $38,300 has been imposed for non-compliance.