A São Paulo court has denied compensation to lawyer Willer Tomaz for losses he claims to have suffered when he was gambling on Blaze. Judge Guilherme Madeira Dezem, of the 44th Civil Court of São Paulo, ruled that the losses were due to risks that the lawyer willingly took. However, Tomaz passed down the ruling that he is not required to be contacted or bothered by the platform.
The case has been publicized because of the amount of gambling Tomaz has been doing, and because he allegedly tried to recoup large gambling losses. The attorney is also being investigated, on his own, by Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) for allegedly laundering money through betting.
Court Says Losses Resulted From Voluntary Betting Risks
In his decision, Judge Dezem denied the defense’s request for damages, stressing that Tomaz was not a passive player but actively pursued opportunities for big bets.
“The plaintiff personally requested and obtained the creation of private and exclusive betting tables with exorbitant values (‘Blaze VIP Blackjack’), requesting successive increases in operational limits to reach the astonishing figure of up to R$500,000 per bet,” the judge said.
“The displeasure, anguish, and emotional distress resulting from the loss of substantial amounts in electronic gambling constitute direct and immediate consequences of the intrinsic risk voluntarily assumed by the gambler when contracting a highly volatile, random activity.”
Betting Turnover Reached R$6.6 Billion
Data provided by Tomaz’s lawyers shows that between January 2025 and July 2026, the lawyer deposited a total of R$325 million, from which 2,145 were paid in the period. His successive wagers resulted in some R$6.6 billion in turnover, and the defense reported net losses of R$188.5 million.
The lawyers said there could be more, as they did not have access to betting records before 2025. They also found 55 pages that showed deposits from the previous era. The defense claims that the losses were mostly due to online casino games, in which the rounds lasted about 30 seconds, and with betting amounts reaching up to R$500,000 per bet, as requested by Tomaz.
The defense also alleged that Blaze paid Tomaz R$42.2 million in bonuses from 2010 to 2014.
Defense Questions Withdrawal Limits and Platform Response
Tomaz’s lawyers also attacked the platform’s payment model, claiming that the platform allowed deposits up to R$500 per transaction, but only R$100 per transaction for withdrawals. The legal filing states that, on one night, Tomaz tried to withdraw R$1.9 million in 16 transactions, between 00:19 and 00:25. After a while, once more, the system refused to let another withdrawal through, showing instead: “You have been trying to withdraw too many times in a row, please try later.” At the end of the night’s gambling, the account was said to have R$0.29 remaining.
According to the defense, Blaze had created a WhatsApp group that provided “exclusive support to lawyers” in April 2023, which is before the legalization of the sports betting market in Brazil. It also stated it had been diagnosed as a professional gambler and offered that Tomaz had previously reported a gambling addiction to the platform several times and had asked for three permanent freezes of his account.
Blaze Disputes the Calculation of Losses
Blaze denied that the amounts deposited constituted financial damage, saying this failed to consider withdrawals and other credits that had been made in that time.
Even if deposits to and withdrawals from an account were made day after day over a period of eighteen months, the net amount would not be damage, the company said, pointing out that the bank statement would show only the withdrawals, not the deposits.
The platform has the support of Santos striker Neymar Jr., and previously had contracted the influencer, Virgínia Fonseca.
Federal Police Investigate Suspected Money Laundering
In isolation, the Federal Police are also investigating if Tomaz was involved in money laundering through betting operations. The investigation dates back to Rio Grande do Sul, where investigators were investigating alleged currency evasion and money laundering, which included Blaze. The government was able to obtain the telecommunication records of Tomaz with the help of judicial authorization.
The investigation was later passed to Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) following a report that e-mails collected during the investigation referred to Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who has special access to the court.
In response to the allegations, the defence maintained that there was “There is no question of money laundering. All transactions occurred in his own bank account, in a transparent and traceable manner, without any concealment or dissimulation of the origin or destination of funds.” The lawyers also disputed the amounts cited in the betting case, saying they “do not correspond to reality,” despite the figures having been presented in Tomaz’s own lawsuit against Blaze.
