Flavio Bolsonaro faces corruption probe weeks before Brazil election

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, a starring right-wing campaigner successful Brazil’s statesmanlike election, is nether probe for his ties to a disgraced banker progressive successful a wide-reaching corruption scandal.

Brazil’s apical tribunal unsealed tribunal documents connected Friday showing that Supreme Court Justice Andre Mendonca opened an probe into the legislator successful July, astatine the petition of national police.

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According to the documents, investigators are looking into whether the legislator engaged successful corruption, wealth laundering and taxation evasion successful transportation to Daniel Vorcaro, the erstwhile caput of failed lender Banco Master.

Vorcaro was arrested successful March and stands accused of engineering 1 of the largest fraud scandals successful Brazilian history, with an estimated 800,000 slope clients among its victims. The fraud, according to national police, was valued astatine astir $2.3bn.

Police said information extracted from Vorcaro’s cellphone showed that helium transferred astir $12m to a US-based money linked to Flavio Bolsonaro’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, successful 2025.

The wealth was allegedly for the 2026 movie Dark Horse, which portrays Eduardo and Flavio’s father, erstwhile President Jair Bolsonaro, successful a flattering light.

Investigators are seeking to found the root of the funds, the companies that made the transfers and the eventual beneficiaries, according to tribunal documents.

A screenshot included successful the documents besides suggests that Eduardo, a erstwhile Brazilian legislator, advised Vorcaro connected managing the US-based funds.

“They privation to framework this arsenic bribe money, which it isn’t,” Eduardo told Reuters connected Friday. “That’s a lie.”

He said that the transfers were intended to shield the funds from interference by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a predominant people of right-wing criticism.

De Moraes oversaw the 2025 transgression lawsuit against Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years successful situation for plotting an attempted coup. Later, the justness besides participated successful a abstracted lawsuit that resulted successful Eduardo Bolsonaro’s ain condemnation for soliciting overseas interference successful Brazil’s politics.

Scandal threatens to impact election

Allegations of ties betwixt Flavio Bolsonaro and Vorcaro emerged successful May, erstwhile the work Intercept Brasil published leaked messages betwixt the two.

Flavio Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, saying helium was simply seeking backstage concern for his father’s film. He is challenging incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the presidency connected October 4 successful the wide election.

The contention is presently expected to caput to a run-off, with neither campaigner receiving an outright bulk successful pre-election polls.

Both Flavio Bolsonaro and Lula person issued statements calling for afloat transparency successful the mushrooming scandal, which has progressive governmental figures crossed Brazil’s government.

“Investigate everything and everyone with transparency,” Flavio Bolsonaro said during a run lawsuit connected Friday. “Show it to the press, amusement it to the people. Let’s spot who is right.”

In a tv interrogation connected Thursday, Lula likewise called for a afloat probe into the matter.

“Investigate everything, disclose everything, careless of who it hurts,” Lula said.

The probe into Flavio Bolsonaro came to airy aft the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Edson Fachin ordered the afloat Banco Master lawsuit to beryllium unsealed this week, releasing thousands of pages of tribunal records.

The court itself has been grappling this week with its ain members’s engagement successful the Banco Master scandal.

Justice Mendonca, 1 of Jair Bolsonaro’s judicial appointees, unsealed connected September 1 a bid of documents purporting to amusement Vorcaro seeking proposal from de Moraes, his workfellow connected the court.

De Moraes changeable backmost that Mendonca had abused his presumption successful the authorities by unsealing those documents and seeking a backstage assemblage with Vorcaro, without prosecutors oregon constabulary present.

The tribunal is acceptable to determine whether to motorboat an probe into de Moraes adjacent week.

The broader implications of the recently unsealed documents stay unclear, with parts of the case, including the probe into Senator Bolsonaro, inactive sealed arsenic constabulary investigate.