According to the civil police, a criminal organization was run by influencers such as Klebim, who advertised and randomly drew vehicles on Instagram and YouTube. The vehicles were prepared with special wheels, suspension and sound and the competitions were advertised on the Internet. Since they had thousands of followers, the raffles were sold easily. The target of the operation, a R4 million mansion on Park Way belonging to Klebim, was also seized. With an area of 2,500 m², the property has five bedrooms, five suites, three bedrooms, nine bathrooms and nine parking spaces, as well as a complete leisure area with heated pool on three levels, barbecue, sauna, campfire, jacuzzi and games room. After the outbreak of two police operations investigating illegal draws of cars and motorcycles promoted by automotive influencers – Huracán in the Federal District and Cardano in São Paulo – Instagram profiles promoting this type of raffle decided to “wait for the dust to settle”. The strategy chosen to go unnoticed by the authorities was to cancel the current sweepstakes and “disappear” from social networks. Officers issued four interim arrest warrants and seven search and seizure warrants. Nine luxury cars were seized, including a Mercedes, a Lamborghini, and a Ferrari; and R$10 million from the accounts of the companies and companies under investigation were frozen by the court.

Draws of this type, requested by the raffle directors themselves, have not been registered in the competent bodies and have become an extremely profitable practice. The latest operation was launched last Wednesday (24) by the civil police of the Deic (State Department of Criminal Investigations). Operation Cardano, against money laundering and gambling with luxury car draws, executed search and seizure warrants in the city of São Paulo and in the municipalities of Guarulhos, São Bernardo do Campo, Santa Bárbara D`Oeste, Sorocaba and Votorantim. One of the influencers who decided to protect himself was Lucas Brandão, known for his “Red Brandão” profile, with more than 1 million followers on Instagram. Lucas has already performed raffle scans of several vehicles and canceled the applicable raffle draw to return money to buyers – according to his claims. Another strategy was to make your account private when only previously authorized people can access its content. Registering on the site, making friends or liking is one of the actions allowed by the legislation that regulates this type of sweepstakes. Those with a philanthropic purpose can sell raffle numbers, but each type of advertising has a specific form on the secretariat`s website. “What usually causes a lot of problems is the person who doesn`t know which category the category fits into,” Carolina says. Some sweepstakes prefer old cars for certain reasons.

First of all, classic cars (black license plate) only receive this designation if they are more than 30 years old and retain between 70% and 80% of their original characteristics. In many conventional vehicles, parts are replaced and lose value as a commodity or relic. The headquarters of the mailbox company in Fern was not even finished. Investigations revealed that raffle money was also used in the construction of the store. For two years, Klebim used his mother`s name (orange) to buy cars. With this knowledge, Return, a company that organizes vehicle sweepstakes for philanthropic purposes, said in a statement that it uses old cars to fulfill the participants` dream of owning their own car. The multimillion-dollar illegal raffle and money laundering scheme that put YouTuber Kleber Moraes, better known as Klebim, 27, Vinícius Couto Farago, 30, Pedro Henrique Barroso Neiva, 37, and Alex Bruno da Silva, 28, behind bars used shell companies to launder resources illegally obtained through the sale of luxury cars. The four participants were arrested early Monday (21.3.) during a mega-operation by the Federal District Civil Police. Other influencers who have already been whistled by UOL Cars for illegal raffles, such as Eduardo Razuk, Luan PetrolHead and Hair Batateiro, continue their active profiles, not to mention sweepstakes.

The arrest of Brazilian YouTuber Kleber Moraes, known as “Klembim,” and three others on Monday (21) sparked a debate about how influencers run sweepstakes and raffles. According to the Federal District Civil Police, Kleber participated in a criminal scheme to engage in gambling and money laundering by scanning car raffles on the Internet. Klebim has about 4 million followers on social media (Youtube and Instagram), including other accounts he monitors, such as EstiloDUB Publicidade, Guincho Dub, Dub Shop and Dub House. Through these channels, he announced sports cars equipped with special wheels, suspensions and sounds, then determined the value of the draw and announced the car on the www.dfrifas.com.br website (removed from the program shortly after the operation began). In Law No. 3.688/41, which is in force, the drawing of lots is considered a type of game, which in Brazil is called a criminal offense. Only civil society organizations that wish to raise additional funds for maintenance or costing can support “philanthropic drawings” with the approval of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Seven months after the launch of two police operations investigating illegal raffles of automotive influencers in the Federal District and São Paulo, profiles continue to sell “lucky numbers” and tomb vehicles on their social networks.

In one of them, held last Saturday (22) by the influencer known as Diogo 305, a stork truck with ten cars was fired. The other operation took place in the Federal District. Called Huracán, led to the seizure of nine luxury cars, including Ferrari, Lamborghini and Mercedes, as well as a villa on Park Way worth 4 million reais. All the assets of YouTuber Klebim, who has more than 4 million followers on his social networks and was arrested for gambling exploitation, money laundering and criminal organization. The operation also arrested Pedro Henrique Barroso Neiva, Vinícius Couto Farago and Alex Bruno da Silva Vale. All were released, but taking precautions, such as the use of electronic ankle bracelets. Many organizers try to give the impression of legality by saying that sponsored raffles are award-winning philanthropic works and the federal lottery draw. In fact, this type of draw exists and is nothing more than a capitalization requirement issued by financial institutions under the approval of Susep (Superintendence of Private Insurance), whose reimbursement is intended for charities. The winner of the draw, Evandro Carrer, says he saw the ad on social media and decided to buy 100 numbers, but did not keep the cars he won.

This “action between friends” generates numbers for followers to participate in the draw. Still, not everyone does it this way, and some influencers use their video channels to promote and draw vehicles. In addition to cars, money and other products for the winner are also involved in the competition. Raffle prizes include a deposit per Pix of up to R$10,000, iPhones, popular cars, motorcycles and even Porsche. The main action of the year, according to the influencer himself, was the draw for the stork truck, loaded with ten popular cars. UOL Carros tried to contact Diogo via social media and email, but had no response at the end of this report. Seven more draws are underway on its website, one of which is to offer four Toyota Corolla vehicles at once. The influencer does not reveal how many “lucky numbers” are marketed.

Courses, restaurant reservations, clothing and also cars (from semi-new to zero km) are offered. But the question remains: is it a trap, Bino? The program starts with announcements on the social networks of the participants, who usually have thousands of followers. From there, they display websites that specialize in sweepstakes, where subscribers make bank transfers directly to the individual accounts of the people involved in the sweepstakes.