'Charitable' raffles were a front for a R$15 million scam that benefited influencers, a businessman, and a lawyer.
A gang composed of digital influencers, businessmen, a lawyer and an accountant was targeted in the second phase of 'Operation Camarilha' this Friday (13), in Araguari. The action carried out by the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais and the Civil Police investigates the criminal organization of national activity involved in a fraud scheme with capitalization bonds and raffles of vehicles and cash.
In total, three search and seizure warrants were executed, one of them at a property in Goiânia (GO), and 10 vehicles were seized. No arrests were made.
According to the MPMG (Minas Gerais Public Prosecutor's Office) and the Civil Police, the group had branches in Araguari, Brasília (DF), Praia Grande (SP), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), and Porto Alegre (RS). The crimes investigated include fraud, money laundering, criminal organization, illegal gambling, crimes against the public economy, and illegal betting.
The scheme
The first phase of the operation was carried out in April 2023, and since then, the investigation has revealed that those involved used real authorizations to sell Philanthropic Capitalization Bonds, granted by the Superintendence of Private Insurance (Susep), to cover up a multi-million dollar scam.
For the scam, the capitalization company based in Porto Alegre obtained authorization from SUSEP (Superintendence of Private Insurance) to market the bonds in the philanthropic prize-linked modality. However, for each bond sold, only 5% of the amount raised was passed on to the philanthropic entity, while 95% was diverted to influencers and intermediary companies.
Among the companies involved were two based in Praia Grande. The beneficiary institution, identified in the investigations, was also forced to hire influencers from Araguari, in addition to one of the companies from Praia Grande, as a condition for participating in the scheme. Therefore:
⇒ 65% of the value of the securities was passed on to the influencers;
⇒ 20% for the Praia Grande-based company involved;
⇒ Only 5% remained with the beneficiary institution, completely undermining the supposed philanthropic nature of the initiative.
Misleading advertising
The investigation indicates that three digital influencers from Araguari used their social media to promote the tickets as if they were charity raffles, promising buyers that they would be helping charities, when in fact the funds were being embezzled.
Despite having formal authorization to hold raffles for cars and cash prizes, the content of the promises and advertisements constituted fraud, deceiving thousands of people across the country and constituting a crime against the public economy.
"They had authorization to hold these raffles for cars and cash, however, the way they advertised them, the way they made promises to those who won, is what deceived millions of people in the country and also constituted a crime against the economy," explained police chief Rodrigo Luis Fiorindo Faria.
According to the police chief, the scheme allegedly moved around R$ 15 million between September 2023 and April 2025. The fraud is so widespread that it became one of the focuses of the BETS Parliamentary Inquiry Commission in the Federal Senate, chaired by Senator Hiran Gonçalves and with Senator Soraya Thronicke as rapporteur. ( Watch the video on g1 Triângulo — Araguari )
