Anísio Abraão David

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anísio Abraão David, better known as Anísio, is an illegal lottery operator (bicheiro) and the honorary president of the samba school Beija-Flor in Nilópolis. He has been the president of the Independent League of Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro (LIESA) from 1985-1987.

[edit] Bicheiro

Anísio controlled the game in Nilópolis and the Baixada Fluminense.^[1] He was found guilty by judge Denise Frossard in 1993 of involvement in the Jogo do Bicho, along with 13 other bicho bankers such as Castor de Andrade and Capitão Guimarães. They were found responsible for at least 53 deaths. They were sentenced to six years each, the maximum sentence for racketeering.^[2] But in December 1996 they were all back on the streets, granted parole or clemency.

Anísio and other bicheiros Antonio Petrus Kalil, or Turcão, and Capitão Guimarães were among 24 people arrested on April 12, 2007, for alleged involvement with illegal numbers games, bingo parlors and the distribution of slot machines. Raids by the Federal Police have uncovered big payoffs to judges, police officers, prosecutors and lawyers from the bosses who run the game. Mounds of documents have been seized and US$6 million in cash has been confiscated.^[3]^[4]

[edit] Fixing the 2007 Carnival

One of the charges was that bicheiros fixed the results of Rio de Janeiro's 2007 carnival parade. Press reports suggest that Anísio, the president of Beija-Flor that won the competition, used bribes and a hitman to buy and intimidate members of the carnival jury. According to extracts from a federal police report "some individuals who worked as carnival jurors and refused to accept benefits from Anisio were threatened or had their relatives threatened with death if the Beija-Flor school did not win the 2007 carnival".^[5]

His family has significant political power in Nilópolis. His brother Farid Abrão David is the mayor of the city. One of his nephews, Ricardo Abraão, was a Federal deputy and his cousin Simão Sessim currently is one.^{[citation needed]}