Mega-Sena: R$ 53 million lottery pool still awaiting judgment at the Superior Court of Justice.
A group of 40 residents from Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, correctly guessed all six numbers in the 2010 Mega-Sena lottery, but never received the R$ 53 million prize. The bet was placed at the Esquina da Sorte lottery agency, but the employee responsible did not register it in the Caixa Econômica Federal system. Sixteen years after the draw, the case is still awaiting judgment in the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
According to the report, the group bet correctly guessed the numbers 20, 28, 40, 41, 51, and 58 in contest 1.155. Each share cost R$ 11. If the prize had been paid out, each of the 40 participants would have received approximately R$ 1.332.500. Since the bet was not registered, the prize accumulated for the next draw.
The affected bettors filed a lawsuit, opening two fronts: one criminal and the other civil.
Conviction in the criminal sphere
In the criminal sphere, the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4) judged the case in 2016. The lottery shop owner, José Paulo Abend, was acquitted. The rapporteur, Federal Judge Sebastião Ogê Muniz, of the 7th Panel, understood that there was no evidence that Abend knew that the group bets were not being registered by the employee.
Employee Diane Samar da Silva was convicted of fraud. According to Muniz, she was responsible for registering the lottery pools and "systematically failed to register them, appropriating the amounts from the bets that should have been transferred to Caixa Econômica Federal (a Brazilian bank)." The notes she kept on the pools did not detail the individual bets, only recording the total amount collected. The sentence imposed was 2 years and 4 months of community service, in addition to the payment of approximately R$ 2 in fines and pecuniary penalties.
Civil dispute against Caixa
In the civil sphere, 14 of the affected bettors filed a lawsuit against the lottery agency and Caixa Econômica Federal (a Brazilian bank). The claim for compensation for material damages reached R$ 1.334.215,25, an amount equivalent to the prize each group of participants would have been entitled to. Adding the claim for moral damages of the same amount, the total claimed reached R$ 2.668.430,52.
The authors argued that the Consumer Protection Code (CDC) imposes objective civil liability in this case and that CEF (Caixa Econômica Federal) was at fault in the selection and supervision of the accredited lottery agency.
The request was denied in the first instance, and the decision was upheld by the TRF-4 (Regional Federal Court of the 4th Region) in 2012. The court highlighted that the group bet is not a modality recognized by CEF (Caixa Econômica Federal), citing even the fact that the betting slip itself stipulates that the prize cannot be claimed by more than one participant. The decision also stated that CEF even revoked the accreditation of Esquina da Sorte precisely for selling this modality, which, according to the court, eliminated any responsibility on the part of the institution; "What exists is a breach of the conditions determined for the accreditation of the lottery outlet, and CEF has no responsibility for the game played in a modality that is not recognized or authorized."
Case in the Superior Court of Justice
The bettors appealed to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). In 2016, Justice Assusete Magalhães, now retired, denied the special appeal in a single-judge decision, pointing out that the appellant had not addressed the central argument adopted by the court of origin, which triggered the application of Precedent 283 of the Supreme Federal Court (STF). The Justice added that reviewing Caixa's liability would require a re-examination of the factual and evidentiary record, which is prohibited in special appeals by Precedent 7 of the STJ.
The decision was challenged through an internal appeal, and the case reached the 2nd Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). In the session on Tuesday (February 7, 2017), Minister Mauro Campbell Marques raised a point of order, and the panel recognized that the lawsuit involves a relevant discussion about the applicability of the Consumer Protection Code (CDC) and the responsibility of CEF, the controller of federal lotteries. Minister Assusete's decision was rendered ineffective, and the special appeal was included on the agenda for collegiate judgment.
The trial was scheduled but postponed on March 8, 2022. Since then, the case has been awaiting a new date for the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) ministers to decide on the fate of the gamblers from Novo Hamburgo.
