Dark Horse: Businessman wins R$ 9,8 million in lotteries and COAF sees "atypical movement"
Businessman Antônio Carlos Freixo Júnior, known as Mineiro, received 920 lottery prizes in 2024, totaling R$ 9,8 million. This information is included in a report from COAF (Council for the Control of Financial Activities) attached to the investigation of Banco Master.
According to SBT News, Freixo had his plea bargain agreement approved by Minister André Mendonça of the Supreme Federal Court – STF, on Tuesday (September 9). The case is proceeding under seal. Freixo Júnior's defense was contacted but did not comment by the time this report was published.
Identified by Federal Police investigations as a financial operator and "bagman" for former banker Daniel Vorcaro, founder of Banco Master, Freixo owns the company Entre Investimentos e Participações. He stated that he made multimillion-dollar remittances to the American fund Havengate, used to finance Dark Horse, a biopic of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Bets and prizes under investigation.
The COAF report records that, between August and December 2024, Freixo placed 920 bets totaling R$ 28,4 million and received R$ 9,8 million in prizes. The winnings were obtained between August 5th and November 5th of that year. The Caixa Lotteries modalities used included Lotofácil, Mega-Sena, Super Sete, Dupla Sena, and +Milionária.
The frequency and amounts caught the attention of the financial institution, which reported the transactions to COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control). The document states that "the possibility of bets being placed in favor of actors other than the bettor himself cannot be ruled out." The report also classified as atypical the volume wagered in a short period and the occurrence of bets placed for the maximum permitted amount in certain modalities. Freixo's registered monthly income is R$ 3,3 million, according to the same document.
A second communication included in the report indicates that Freixo placed 3.143 bets between December 2022 and February 2024, totaling R$ 19,9 million. These bets resulted in R$ 39 million in prizes, according to the document. The COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control) emphasizes that the use of lotteries is a known method of money laundering, although the records concerning Freixo do not state that his winnings originated from this method.
Financial transactions and relationships
The funds received were followed, on different occasions, by transfers to Cactus Assessoria e Serviços, a company linked to the businessman. Part of the payments were made via Pix from a Cactus account [Editor's note: the company has no relation to Cactus Gaming or Cactus Tecnologia]. Bets ranging from R$ 180 to R$ 200 were placed at a lottery outlet in Pouso Alegre (MG), Freixo's hometown, where he resided in São Paulo.
The financial institution also identified cases in which received funds were debited immediately. In one example, a deposit of R$ 1,23 million was followed, on the same day, by an identical transfer to Fincapital Participações. In another instance, R$ 1 million entered and left on the same day for a credit rights fund.
Since March 2017, Freixo had accumulated approximately 1.630 winning lottery tickets released for payment, according to the document. Around 870 had been paid out at a Caixa bank branch on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo. The volume was so significant that Freixo even had a stamp with his information used to fill out the back of the receipts. The report cites as an example a bet of R$ 83.160 that resulted in a prize of R$ 12.600.
The document makes it clear that the lottery transactions occurred before the investigation into the film Dark Horse and that there is no indication, in the records analyzed, of a connection between the bets and the financing of the biopic.
The Federal Police and the Attorney General's Office are using the documents provided by Freixo to trace the money trail in tax havens. Authorities are seeking international cooperation with the United States to access the complete records of the Havengate fund's transactions. The goal is to determine whether the entire amount sent was used for the film's production or if part of the funds was diverted to cover personal expenses of political agents in the United States.
Freixo and Entre Investimentos were already appearing alongside Vorcaro in an administrative proceeding by the CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission) regarding suspicions of fraudulent operations in the capital market. The proceeding also involved the then Banco Máxima, which later became Banco Master.
