Brazilian presidential candidate Bolsonaro suspected of money laundering

Brazilʼs federal police have launched an investigation into presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro on suspicion of involvement in a money laundering scheme along with his lawyer, Willer Tomas.

This is reported by the Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

Investigators came to Bolsonaro during an investigation into possible money laundering and illegal withdrawal of funds abroad through sports betting platforms.

The investigation believes that lawyer Tomaz controlled the betting company Rede Loto. After checking his phone and email, police discovered close ties to Bolsonaro.

In particular, one of the emails shows that Bolsonaro was registered as the “primary user” of an account at Santander Bank linked to the company Alcazar Holdings, which Tomaz ran. In May 2025, the lawyer’s secretary asked the bank to unlink the profiles in the names of Flavio and Tomaz himself from the account.

Both deny having a joint bank account and say that correspondence with the bank does not prove the existence of joint finances.

Police also found that Bolsonaro and Tomaz traveled together on numerous occasions. In the first half of 2025 alone, they made at least five joint trips abroad — including to South Africa, Portugal, France, and the United States.

According to the investigation, Tomaz also paid for some of Bolsonaro and his family’s trips through one of his companies.

Flavio Bolsonaro is also involved in another case, regarding the financing of the film Dark Horse about his father, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The investigation is looking into possible money laundering, corruption and illegal transfer of funds abroad.

According to the Intercept Brasil portal, Flavio asked banker Daniela Vorcaro to allocate 131 million reais (about $24 million) for the film. Of this amount, 60 million reais (about $11 million) were paid. Flavio denies any wrongdoing.

• Flavio Bolsonaro is the son of Jair Bolsonaro, who led Brazil from 2019 to 2022. The former president is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for orchestrating a coup attempt after losing the 2022 election.
• His son is running for president, facing incumbent Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the second round of the election on October 25.

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