Brazilian Federal Police restarts operation to shut down bingo halls.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General's Office have launched a broad offensive against bingo halls. Through eleven civil lawsuits filed in the Federal Court in São Paulo, federal prosecutors and federal prosecutors requested the closure of 166 establishments. Yesterday afternoon, Federal Police teams carried out an order from Judge Marco Aurélio de Mello Castrianni, of the 1st Federal Court, and closed 3 bingo halls. In his decision, the judge highlighted: "I take into account the reports brought to the case files regarding the harm being caused to the health of people who engage in the questioned game." The prosecutors maintain that "all bingo halls operating in São Paulo are already operating clandestinely." They argue that the establishments' accreditations predate November 2001 – Article 2 of Law 9.981/00 revoked, as of December 31 of that year, Articles 59 to 81 of Law 9.615/98, "respecting, however, the authorizations that were in effect until their expiration date." The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office requested an injunction for "the immediate closure of the bingo halls, as well as the unavailability of all slot machines and electronic bingo machines, in use and/or in storage." Judge Castrianni granted the request and imposed a daily fine of R$ 100 for each establishment "for any eventual non-compliance with this measure." He ordered notices to be posted on the closed doors of the establishments, stating: "Closed by Federal Court." The magistrate also ordered the bingo hall owners to remove from the building facades "all signs, advertisements, notices, or websites related to the illicit activity of bingo, directly or indirectly." He also ordered the suspension of "all advertising in the media, in all its forms, newspapers, television, radio, etc., as well as the sending of correspondence – email or regular mail – to consumers." The prosecutors noted that bingo was initially authorized as a legal activity – Law 8.672/93, "however, the matter received new legal treatment through the Pelé Law, repealing the previous legislation." The Federal Police deployed several teams for missions in 7 different locations. The Trevo São João, Lins Bingo, and Bingo Theotônio Vilella bingo halls were closed. The other establishments mentioned in the court order had their doors locked or were not operating. The operations will be carried out in 19 other cities. Estadão – FAUSTO MACEDO