Senate Bill No. 00274 of 2006, Bingo CPI
Senate Bill No. PLS 00274 2006 of 2006
Amends Decree-Law No. 2.848, of December 7, 1940 – Penal Code, and Law No. 9.613, of March 3, 1998, to criminalize the exploitation of gambling and to make criminal prosecution more efficient in cases of money laundering.
The National Congress decrees:
Art. 1º Decree-Law No. 2.848, of December 7, 1940 – Penal Code, shall be amended to include the following article:
"Gambling operation
Art. 232-A. Establishing, promoting, or operating gambling in a public place or a place accessible to the public, whether or not an entrance fee is charged, without authorization from federal law:
Penalty – imprisonment for one to three years, and a fine.
§ 1. Any game, electronic or otherwise, in which winning or losing depends exclusively or mainly on luck, or any activity that, through the distribution of tickets, lists, coupons, vouchers, cards, signs, symbols or similar means, makes obtaining a prize in money or goods of another nature dependent on a draw, shall be considered a game of chance.
§ 2. The same penalty applies to anyone who produces, sells or exposes for sale, keeps in their possession for the purpose of sale, puts or attempts to put into circulation or transports a ticket or similar means of gambling, or who manufactures, acquires, sells, supplies, even free of charge, a machine, apparatus, instrument or any artifact intended for gambling, except for authorizations arising from federal law.
§ 3. The loss of furniture and decorative objects from the premises constitutes a consequence of the conviction.
§ 4 The penalty is increased by one third if the agent is a public official or if there is a person under 18 (eighteen) years of age among the employees or at the location.
§ 5. For criminal purposes, the following are considered equivalent to places accessible to the public:
a) a private house where gambling takes place, when people who are not family members of the occupant habitually participate in it;
b) the hotel or collective housing where gambling is provided to guests and residents;
c) the headquarters or branch of a foundation, company or association where gambling takes place.”
Art. 2º Law No. 9.613, of March 3, 1998, shall enter into force with the following amendments:
Article 1 ………………………………………………………….
IX – crime of operating an illegal gambling establishment.
…………………………………………………………….. (NR)”
" Article 4. The judge, ex officio, at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, or upon representation by the police authority, after hearing the Public Prosecutor's Office within twenty-four hours, if there is sufficient evidence of the crime defined in Article 1 of this Law, may decree at any time:"
I – the seizure or sequestration of assets, rights or values of the accused obtained illicitly, even if transferred or held in the name of third parties or mixed with legally constituted assets, up to the total estimated value involved in the criminal activity or the proceeds and income obtained, proceeding in accordance with articles 125 to 144 of Decree-Law No. 3.689, of October 3, 1941 – Code of Criminal Procedure;
II – the total or partial unavailability of the assets of the accused or a third party, which must cover the full estimated value involved in the criminal activity, ensuring, at a minimum, if such an estimate is impossible, the complete reimbursement of the damage caused to public funds.
§ 1º ………………………………………………………………
§ 2 The judge shall order the release of assets, rights and values seized, sequestered or declared unavailable when the lawfulness of their origin is proven.
§ 3 No request for restitution or availability will be considered without the personal appearance of the accused, and the judge may order the performance of acts necessary for the preservation of assets, rights or values.
§ 4 The order for the arrest of persons, seizure, sequestration or freezing of assets, rights or values, may be suspended by the judge, after hearing the Public Prosecutor's Office, when its immediate execution may compromise the investigations or when they become unnecessary.
§ 5 The measure referred to in item II of the heading of this article shall be lifted in the event of acquittal or extinction of punishability by a final and unappealable decision.
§ 6 While an extradition decision is pending, the Supreme Federal Court shall decree the measure provided for in item II of the heading of this article. (NR)”
Art. 3º This Law shall enter into force on the date of its publication.
Art. 4º Articles 50 to 55 and 58 of Decree-Law No. 3.688, of October 3, 1941, and articles 45 to 56 and 58 to 60 of Decree-Law No. 6.259, of February 10, 1944, are hereby repealed.
Authorship: Bingo CPI
"Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI), created through Request No. 245 of 2004, to 'investigate and ascertain the use of bingo halls for the practice of money laundering or concealment of assets, rights and values, as well as the relationship of these halls and the companies holding betting concessions with organized crime'."
Proposal included in the Approved Final Report.
The following senators signed the bill: Efraim Morais, Garibaldi Alves Filho, Juvêncio da Fonseca, José Jorge, Eduardo Suplicy, Romero Jucá, Leomar Quintanilha, Wellington Salgado, Augusto Botelho, Álvaro Dias, Valdir Raupp, Antonio Carlos Magalhães, Heráclito Fortes, and Magno Malta.
