The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), indicated in conversations with senators from the Bets Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) that he can work to conclude the work before the established deadline.
The commission, which began in November, is scheduled to operate until April of next year. The motivation for an early termination comes in response to rumors that betting website owners were being targeted for extortion.
Although Pacheco does not have the regulatory authority to dissolve a CPI, he can facilitate agreements to undermine the commission, such as encouraging members not to attend sessions.
Recently, after debating with Senator Soraya Thronicke (Podemos-MS), CPI rapporteur, Senator Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI) sought out the President of the Senate to discuss suspicions of extortion by a well-known lobbyist from Brasília, allegedly in collusion with members of the commission.
Ciro Nogueira stated that he received information about lobbyist Silvio de Assis. Allegedly, Assis had requested R$40 million from a businessman, promising to avoid being summoned to testify at the Bets CPI. He claimed to have influence over certain congressmen.
Without making direct accusations against Soraya Thronicke, Nogueira noted that the rapporteur has a close relationship with the lobbyist. The senator admitted knowing Assis, but denied friendship with him. “This is defamation, this is slander,” Thronicke said.
Similarities between the Bets CPI and the Sports Betting CPI
This scenario reflects a similar situation to last year; a movement closed the Sports Betting CPI in the Chamber of Deputies. Originally, the commission would operate until November, but it ended two months earlier and did not vote on the final opinion of the rapporteur, deputy Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE).
The dissolution of the commission occurred after a report on the VEJA portal. The text revealed that Carreras had requested R$35 million from a representative of an association of bookmakers, and in return, he promised help and protection in the commission.
Wesley Cardia, then president of the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), reported the episode to José Francisco Manssur. The latter, a former special advisor to the Ministry of Treasury, later confirmed the story in a statement to the CPI.