Smashed slot machines

The Goiás State Finance Department wants to empty a storage facility to strengthen its oversight.
In a major operation that began yesterday morning and is expected to conclude next week, the State Finance Secretariat (Sefaz) will destroy approximately one thousand video lottery machines that were operating illegally in commercial establishments in the capital and the interior of the state. These well-known slot machines being destroyed are part of a batch of 3 machines seized since March of last year and stored in the secretariat's warehouse located in the Santa Genoveva sector. Yesterday afternoon, the first one hundred were crushed at the Goiânia landfill.
Of these 3 machines, approximately 700 have been regularized. These were machines that were authorized to operate, but at the time of seizure lacked the seal that permits their operation. The remainder were never claimed by their owners and today occupy practically all the space in the department's warehouse. As the processes related to half of the machines have already been completed, the tax authority has begun their destruction.
reuse
“This is the largest destruction of slot machines ever carried out in the country,” believes the head of the Tax Department's Inspection Department, Fábio Bezerra, who is only aware of one other mass disposal recently carried out in Brazil. “It was in Sergipe, where 90 slot machines were disposed of in a single operation,” he says. Yesterday, the transfer of the first machines to the Goiânia landfill was accompanied by military police and occurred without incident. The other 1,3 slot machines, which remain in the warehouse, should be sent to the landfill at the beginning of next year, where they will be crushed.
Neither the wooden frame supporting the machines nor the electronic components of the slot machines can be reused or recycled. "The Penal Code prohibits the use of products that are the result of illegal activity," says Bezerra. According to the tax authorities, the seized machines have no commercial value since, being clandestine, they cannot be put into operation. However, Bezerra reports that the market price of the equipment ranges from 300 reais to 5 reais, depending on the model.
The state already has 12 machines – Approximately 4 slot machines operate illegally in Goiás, and some are located near schools. Inspections promise to define a minimum distance from these establishments.
In addition to destroying the seized slot machines, the State Finance Department (Sefaz) intends to strengthen its oversight of the sector. The head of the State Finance Department's Inspection Department, Fábio Bezerra, estimates that 12 machines are currently operating in the state, 4 of them clandestinely. This is because only 8 machines owned by Gerenciamento e Planejamento Ltda (Gerplan) – the only company authorized by the government to operate games and lotteries in Goiás – and its partners are operating legally.
Currently, when a seizure occurs, only the owner of the equipment can be administratively and judicially punished. But the State Finance Department (Sefaz) wants to change the law. A bill, which will be sent to the Legislative Assembly, foresees the punishment of the owner of the establishment where the slot machine is found as well. Other changes that, according to Bezerra, should bring greater transparency to the inspection and operation of slot machines in the State will come with the issuance of a normative instruction by Sefaz. The instruction will define, for example, the minimum permitted distance for installation near schools. Today, this distance is not specified. As a result, machines operate normally in the vicinity of schools, contradicting the suggestion of a minimum distance of 200 meters made by the State Environmental and Customs Department in 1999.
This is what happens at a bar on Rua 13, across from the Campinas Bus Terminal. The establishment has about ten slot machines and is less than 50 meters from the Olavo Bilac State School, the Engenheiro Flávio Cascão Elementary School, and the Duca Viggiano State School. In May, the State Finance Department announced that it would regulate this distance, but the normative instruction is only expected to be issued in the coming days. (RRC)
The Court of Auditors (TCE) points to tax evasion of R$ 40 million.
The State Audit Court (TCE) estimates that, due to illegal slot machines, Goiás has already lost approximately R$ 40 million in Value Added Tax (ICMS) revenue. Yesterday, the TCE sent an official letter to the Public Security Secretariat requesting the seizure of the clandestine machines in the state. In another letter, the agency requests that the Regional Office of the Federal Revenue Service investigate tax evasion in this service. According to the TCE, there are 23 clandestine electronic gaming machines in Goiás. The secretariat estimates that this number is around 4.
The Secretary of Finance, Wanderley Pimenta, stated that it is difficult to calculate the revenue evasion, mainly because it is an activity prone to clandestine operations. According to the Secretary, what exists is a 10% payment on Gerplan's revenue for the use of authorized machines, which is collected by the Lottery Superintendency. Regarding clandestine machines, Wanderley Pimenta explained that the inspection process is very complex, involving visits by inspectors to all commercial establishments, street by street.
Accountability.
The contract between the Goiás State Lottery (LEG) and the company Gerplan was originally signed in 1995. At that time, LEG was an autonomous entity. In 1998, at the end of the government's term, the contract was extended until 2010. The secretary explains that "presenting all the accountability reports since 1995 within a two-day period, as recently requested by the TCE (Court of Accounts), is practically impossible." The Lottery Superintendency requested a 30-day extension to present the documents. The TCE fined the secretary and the superintendent for not delivering the requested documents. "We have no intention of hiding anything from the TCE and have already ordered that the data collection be expedited," concluded Wanderley Pimenta.
UNDERSTAND THE CASE
Learn about the back-and-forth of legal measures that ultimately authorized the operation of slot machines.
22/10/1999 – In compliance with a decree by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, which prohibited Programmed Electronic Machines (PEMs) throughout the country, the Public Prosecutor's Office ordered the seizure of the equipment, understanding that they constituted games of chance.
25/10/1999 – The Public Prosecutor's Office announces that it will go to court to force LEG to remove the gaming machines.
26/10/1999 – The Public Security Secretariat requests a legal study to determine if the presidential decree covers, in addition to bingo halls, the machines authorized by the LEG (Law of Electronic Execution).
October 28, 1999 – Judge Rozana Fernandes Camapum, of the 1st Special Criminal Court, orders the issuance of a search and seizure warrant for all electronic slot machines installed in Goiânia.
9/11/1999 – Judge Carlos Hipólito Escher, of the Court of Justice, denies the injunction requested by the company Gerplan and upholds the seizure of the company's slot machines.
December 1, 1999 – Carlos Hipólito Escher reverses his decision and grants a preliminary injunction in a writ of mandamus filed by Gerplan, which manages to secure the release of its machinery.
3/12/1999 – The Public Prosecutor's Office files a writ of mandamus in the Court of Justice to try to reverse the situation and maintain the seizures.
7/6/2000 – Court denies writ of mandamus filed by Gerplan.
4/10/2000 – Seizures of slot machines are intensified in the capital in compliance with the court's decision.
15/12/2000 – Judge Jamil Pereira de Macedo denies a preliminary injunction requested in a habeas corpus petition filed by the company Gerplan, which sought the dismissal of the case pending before the 1st Special Criminal Court.
2/1/2001 – The Public Prosecutor's Office files a request for an injunction to compel the State of Goiás and Gerplan to put an end to video lottery games, conducted through slot machines, throughout the State.
30/1/2001 – Judge Luiz Antônio Alves Bezerra, of the 2nd State Public Treasury Court, prohibits the operation of slot machines throughout the State, ruling that such games are games of chance.
12/2/2001 – The Court of Justice again authorizes slot machines throughout the State, suspending an injunction that prohibited the operation of the equipment.
April 4, 2001 – Judge Leonardo Fleury Curado orders the withdrawal of the search and seizure warrant for slot machines in Goiânia.
June 16, 2001 – Approximately 500 slot machines operating illegally without LEG authorization were seized in the capital and interior during a raid by the State Treasury Department and the Military and Federal Police.
August 30, 2001 – 113 slot machines are seized by the Military Police in Goiânia for being in violation of regulations.
June 20, 2002 – Judge Avenir Passo de Oliveira, of the 3rd State Public Treasury Court, dismisses a request from the Public Prosecutor's Office, which sought to end the game. The operation of video lottery machines is maintained.
O Popular – Rosane Rodrigues da Cunha