Court Blocks R$101 Million from Illegal Gambling Site Blaze

[00:03] right? I went into depression, I had panic attacks and fun and advantageous. I thought, "Well, there's a chance I could win." I

[00:16] needed to make some extra money. A discovery made possible by a A discovery made possible by a digital influencer—renowned figures started advertising it—and through that, I said, "Ah, let's try this

[00:31] moment here to show you this Blaze game, which is Crash." Crash, known as the "little airplane game," is one of the main games on the Blaze platform. As soon as

[00:43] the plane starts flying, the prize value increases. The player has to decide when to stop the flight. If the word "Crash" appears beforehand, the bet

[00:55] which is my favorite. To promote it, Blaze hires celebrities with millions of followers, and the script always starts with

[01:08] an invitation to make money very quickly, but with caveats. It's a game for those responsibly because you can win, and you can also lose. And the ending is always happy. Look, I bet 500 and won

[01:28] 110, money from one of the influencers who promotes it. Luan Kovarik, known as John Vlogs, from the "little airplane" game, even made a post to refute comments that surfaced on social media claiming

[01:41] he was a partner in Blaze. "I don't own Blaze, I don't, I wish I did, but I make a lot of money with Blaze. The credibility came after my company entered the market. Everyone was afraid, I don't know what happened, the influencers entered,

[01:54] know what happened, the influencers entered, everyone, all the casinos profited from it, it wasn't just Blaze." The "little airplane" game, as well as others offered by Blaze, as well as others offered by Blaze, are illegal in Brazil. The penalties for this

[02:08] practice can affect companies, bettors, and those who promote it. Gambling is a criminal offense. The influencer who promotes it is an essential mechanism for this. Blaze is a company known

[02:23] as Bet, like many others in the sports market. It's a permitted activity in Brazil; you can bet on teams and players and know how much you will win if you players and know how much you will win if you guess correctly—it's called fixed odds.

[02:38] The problem is that on the Blaze website there is another area called Casino, where another area called Casino, where illegal games are offered that deceive victims with the promise of winnings. Based on luck, they can cause

[02:55] enormous losses. Using the excuse of fixed-odds betting in this type of sport, they end up exploiting other modalities like casinos and the "airplane game," which are exclusively games of chance and not included in the legalization on Tuesday. The

[03:11] Senate approved the bill regulating sports betting and fantasy games—those in which participants choose the names of real athletes in virtual sporting competitions— which are permitted.

[03:27] Companies will now be able to register with the Ministry of Finance, seek legal payment methods authorized by the Central Bank, and consequently, resources will enter the Union's budget to fund its

[03:39] social programs. The bill will still go through a vote in the Chamber of Deputies and does not include the exploitation of illegal online gambling games like the " airplane game." The São Paulo police began investigating Blaze

[03:55] after bettors started reporting that prizes were not being paid by the platform, leading to suspicion of fraud. I won a lot of money, more than R$100,000; I managed to withdraw R$20.00, the

[04:11] rest remained there, and it was a... Manipulation after manipulation. One day I saw that it was paying quite a bit, I said I'd put 2800 on the platform, I got a return of 98000. When I tried to withdraw

[04:26] When I tried to withdraw those 98000, they blocked the platform and took money from my account. This second bettor made a dossier with the exchange of messages with a person who, according to him, worked

[04:40] for Blaze. In one of them, there is a promise of payment: "Don't be alarmed by the deadline they may give you in the email, it will be resolved and credited as quickly as resolved and credited as quickly as possible." But the final answer was

[04:54] different: "We regret to inform you that your Blaze account has been closed because it was used by a minor and you will not receive any benefits obtained from it." This is not true, this is not true, this is not true.

[05:08] this is not true. You were the one using the account. From September onwards, the São Paulo court blocked 101 million reais from the platform. In the same decision, the court ordered the Blaze website to be taken offline, but the

[05:22] Blaze website to be taken offline, but the court order had no effect. One of the email addresses used by the platform even stopped working. Others came in their place, and the online gaming offer continued normally. The

[05:37] issue is that Blaze has no headquarters or legal representatives in Brazil, which makes it difficult for the police to find those responsible. The argument used is that, since they are not in Brazilian territory, Brazilian law

[05:52] should not apply to them. However, this is not what happens when the exploitation and effects occur within national territory. Even so, Brazilian law is applicable to the case and remains a criminal offense. According to the

[06:07] police, financial reports included in the investigation indicate that part of the money raised by Blaze is destined for three Brazilians; they would be the hidden owners of the company. All the influencers who appear in the

[06:23] report are being investigated and were contacted by Fantástico. Vitub said that upon learning of the allegations against Blaze, he requested the termination of his contract with the company. Juju Ferrari also said that she

[06:38] no longer promotes Blaze and that her relationship was only for advertising. John Vlogs' press office states that he has had a contract with Blaze since 2021 and

[06:50] that the relationship is exclusively that of an influencer, with no influencer, with no shareholding participation. Rico Mead McCam Mel Maia and Juju shareholding participation. Rico Mead McCam Mel Maia and Juju Salimeni did not return our calls.

[07:04] The lawyers hired by Blaze to handle this case claim that the company is based in Curaçao and therefore its activity does not constitute a criminal offense, even if the bettors are Brazilian. They also claim that in another

[07:20] similar case, the Public Prosecutor's Office of São Paulo requested the dismissal of the investigation and a judge revoked the decision to block the site. People enter, like I did many times, just playing around, but the consequences

[07:37] playing around, but the consequences can be numerous, from mentally and physically to financially and emotionally, affecting financially and emotionally, affecting family members; it's problem after