Police in Brazil’s Bahia state said four social-media influencers were arrested in Casa Nova. A court authorized the blocking of accounts and assets totaling about 84.9 million reais.
The Felis and Influência Oculta operations are investigating alleged illegal online betting and slot-machine schemes, criminal association and money laundering in the São Francisco Valley. Police say the suspects used their social-media reach to direct users to platforms outside the authorized “.bet.br” domain, which they said lacked age checks and anti-money-laundering controls.
The investigation began after the local police station in Casa Nova identified transactions that did not match the influencers’ declared income. Five search warrants were carried out. Authorities seized a car, two pickup trucks, all-terrain vehicles, trailers, generators, sound equipment, a handgun, ammunition and phones. The vehicles were valued at about 700,000 reais.
Police identified the arrested people as Josivan Silva Ribeiro, Erika Taisa da Silva Sampaio, Vitor de Amorim Silva and Maria Luiza Barbosa Ribeiro. Detective Thiago Pessoa said their posts included staged displays of large winnings and promises of quick wealth. CNN Brasil said it had not received a response from Erika before publication and left the opportunity open for the other suspects’ defense teams to comment.