Flamengo forward Bruno Henrique has been charged with sports fraud and embezzlement. The complaint was filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal District and Territories (MPDFT) this Wednesday (11). In addition to the player, his brother, his sister-in-law and a cousin were also charged with the same crimes.
Now, it is up to the Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT) to accept or reject the complaint and make the accused defendants in a lawsuit.
According to press reports, Flamengo said it will not comment. Bruno Henrique’s defense released a statement criticizing the complaint (see below).
The complaint is based on the accusation that Bruno Henrique acted deliberately to be punished with a yellow card in the game between Flamengo and Santos, played in Brasília, in the 2023 Brasileirão.
According to the Special Task Force to Combat Organized Crime (GAECO), responsible for the investigation, the attacker informed his brother, Wander Nunes Pinto Júnior, that he would commit the offense, which allowed Wander to make a prior bet on Bruno Henrique’s punishment.
According to the investigation, the information about the striker’s yellow card was released by his brother. From then on, an excessive number of bets were placed on the striker’s warning in the match, on November 1, 2023.
The MPDFT based the complaint on exchanges of messages obtained from Bruno Henrique and his brother’s phones. The devices were examined after a search and seizure warrant was served in November 2024.
Bruno Henrique case history
Initially, the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) dismissed the sports complaint against Bruno Henrique. With the case gaining new elements in the Common Court, the investigation at the STJD was unarchived and the Flamengo striker gave a statement on May 29.
Therefore, the STJD now has 60 days to decide whether or not to file a complaint against the red-and-black player. Last May, Bruno Henrique’s defense filed a request to annul the case against the striker in the DF Court.
However, in November, shortly after winning the Copa do Brasil, the striker denied involvement in the alleged manipulation of the match against Santos.
— Yes (I am innocent). I received (the operation) in an aggressive way. I didn’t expect it the way it was, but I believe in justice up there. God is a guy who always knows. My life, my trajectory, since I started playing soccer… God has always been with me. And, man, I’m calm about it. The people who are there in this battle with me, I just ask that justice be done and that what’s off the field be separated from what’s on the field — he assured.
Check below the list of all those reported for sports fraud and fraud:
- Bruno Henrique, Flamengo striker
- Wander Nunes Pinto Junior, brother of Bruno Henrique
- Ludymilla Araújo Lima, sister-in-law of Bruno Henrique
- Poliana Ester Nunes Cardoso, cousin of Bruno Henrique
- Claudinei Vitor Mosquete Bassan, Wander´s acquaintance
- Rafaela Cristina Elias Bassan
- Henrique Mosquete do Nascimento
- Andryl Sales Nascimento dos Reis
- Max Evangelista Amorim
Claim for compensation for moral damages
In the complaint, the MPDFT also asks the DF Court to pay compensation in the amount of R$2 million to the defendants, as compensation for collective moral damages for the crimes of sports fraud and fraud.
According to the request, the alleged manipulation highlighted by the investigations caused an affront to the integrity and ethics of sport, in addition to having violated consumer rights and, finally, the discredit caused to football, a cultural heritage of Brazil, in the words of the MPDFT, by the actions of those accused.
The MPDFT complaint also states that it attempted to present non-prosecution agreements for some of the defendants, but that the terms presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office were not accepted, which led to the filing of the complaint.
This agreement was not passed on to Bruno Henrique since, in the MPDFT’s understanding, this measure would not be sufficient to prevent the crimes of sports fraud and fraud.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office also set a bail amount of R$2 million for the Flamengo striker, in order to “ensure his appearance at the trial and as a way of avoiding obstruction of the judicial process or unjustified resistance to the court order”.
Check out Bruno Henrique’s defense note
“The complaint filed by the MPDFT, in addition to being entirely unsubstantiated, is clearly opportunistic, given the context in which it was filed, coincidentally on the same date that the list of players registered for the FIFA Super Club World Cup was released, which includes Mr. Bruno Henrique.
Although the ministerial body’s measure is opportunistic, its defense clarifies that the undue accusations made will be technically and immediately refuted in the process.
“Felipe Carvalho”
