The Federal Police have begun investigations into a possible fraudulent scheme that uses the CPFs of Bolsa Família beneficiaries in bets. This information was shared by Minister Wellington Dias, head of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, during his participation in the Bom Dia, Ministro program, this Tuesday (15).
The investigations began after the Central Bank released a technical analysis last year. The report revealed that approximately 5 million people from families benefiting from the program transferred R$3 billion to betting companies through the Pix system.
Minister Wellington Dias explained: “When the Central Bank released the volume it found, I was suspicious, because it did not match the data cross-referenced with our Bolsa Família monitoring system.
And there I asked the Federal Police to investigate. If there is a volume of money that does not match those who are using the Bolsa Família card, then there is someone who may be using the CPF, and this is ongoing.”
Wellington Dias added: “Today we already have the first evidence that they often laundered money using the CPF of another person who they didn’t even know. Because the movement was such a volume that it doesn’t even make sense.
The person said: ‘God forbid I should have that much money’. In other words, he didn’t even want to have that much money. So of course the investigations will continue and we will take action.
Here it is like this, rights for those who have rights. We want to reach all the people we have not yet reached and who are in need. But we also want to ensure compliance with the law.
Wherever there is fraud, wherever there is any crime, we will act and act very firmly. I think we need to be careful not to create prejudice towards this public that already suffers from countless prejudices.”
Bettors Comparison
During the interview, the minister also highlighted that the percentage of Bolsa Família beneficiaries involved in betting is considerably lower than the total Brazilian population that carries out these activities.
Wellington Dias stated: “When the Central Bank report came out, I immediately sought out the management, the people who carried out the research. We cross-referenced the data.
We are talking about approximately 52% of the population that plays. And when we look at the Bolsa Família population that used the card, used the resources there, 3.4%. So there is a very large gap here.”
Measures against the misuse of Bolsa Família in betting
In dialogue with radio broadcasters from different regions, the minister also commented on ongoing initiatives to prevent the use of program resources in online betting.
Wellington Dias stated: “Everyone knows that money is for food insecurity, for family needs. And what did we do? We adopted measures that applied to all credit cards, so that they would no longer be used.
We also started working with the Ministry of Health and are serving approximately 190,000 people who we call gambling addicts. These are people who play games almost every day.
It’s an addiction, let’s call it that. So we take care of chemical dependents, drug dependents, for example, gambling addiction, we take care of them.
And the Ministry of Health has a network, and it is a complex treatment. Many times it dismantles the family itself. Around R$30 billion per month is thrown into these games. So it is something that I think the country has to look into and find an alternative.”
