Former Bundesliga professional <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/06/cesar-benavides-the-pelao-from-taganga-who-signed-with-flamengo/" title="César Benavides, the pelao from Taganga who signed with Flamengo“>Bruno Henrique, 33, has been targeted by Brazilian law enforcement authorities. The current CR Flamengo striker is suspected of playing a central role in alleged betting manipulation. This was announced by the public prosecutor’s office and the police in Rio de Janeiro. A computer and a cell phone belonging to the former VfL Wolfsburg attacker (2015/16 season) were confiscated during a house search. Flamengo’s training ground was also searched. No arrest warrants have been issued so far; the investigation is ongoing.
Bruno Henrique was targeted by investigators at the end of 2023 after a game between Flamengo and FC Santos. The attacker was sent off with a yellow-red card towards the end of the second half of the game when the score was 1:2. After a corner kick for Santos, he tried comparatively clumsily to foul an opponent. After he was warned, Bruno Henrique insulted the referee (“You’re shit!”) until he saw the second yellow card and was sent off.
50 police officers and prosecutors are said to have been on duty
Betting providers became suspicious. They had previously noticed that a remarkable number of bets had been placed on Bruno Henrique being sent off. Statistically speaking, the probability of the striker being sent off was actually 20 percent; The high stakes caused the value to jump to 90 percent before the game against Santos.
The betting providers were also puzzled by the fact that the bets were mainly registered in Bruno Henrique’s birthplace, Belo Horizonte. Immediately before the start of the game, a strange number of new accounts were opened at three betting providers. Specifically, family members and close friends of Bruno Henrique are being investigated, who are said to have exhausted the maximum permitted stakes in their bets. They are said to have only bet on a sending off against Bruno Henrique, but not on the result of the game. The focus is on a brother, a sister-in-law and a cousin of the player. Their residences were also searched – on suspicion of an “offense against the uncertainty of the outcome” of a competition. A total of 50 police officers and prosecutors were on duty. There were initially no statements from Flamengo or Bruno Henrique. On Tuesday, Brazilian media reported that Bruno Henrique would be selected for Flamengo’s away game at Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte (Wednesday). Bruno Henrique is one of the regulars in the current fourth-place team in the Brazilian league.
