Flavio Bolsonaro placed under investigation weeks before Brazil’s presidential election

Sealed inquiry becomes public

Brazilian presidential candidate and senator Flavio Bolsonaro is under investigation for possible corruption, money laundering and tax evasion connected to the failed lender Banco Master. The inquiry became public on September 11 when Brazil’s Supreme Court unsealed files from the broader banking scandal. The documents show that Justice Andre Mendonca opened the investigation in July at the request of federal police.

Investigators are examining Bolsonaro’s relationship with former Banco Master chief Daniel Vorcaro and tracing the origin and final destination of disputed transfers. According to the released material reported by Al Jazeera, data obtained from Vorcaro’s telephone indicated that about $12 million was transferred in 2025 to a US-based fund linked to Bolsonaro’s brother Eduardo. Authorities are investigating the companies and beneficiaries involved rather than treating the transfer itself as proof of a crime.

The family says the money financed a film

The Bolsonaro family’s account is that the funds represented private financing for Dark Horse, a film presenting former president Jair Bolsonaro favourably. Eduardo Bolsonaro denied that the money was a bribe and said the offshore structure was intended to protect the project’s assets. Flavio Bolsonaro has also denied wrongdoing and called for the case to be investigated openly.

Those denials are important because the newly public documents establish the existence and scope of an investigation, not guilt. Parts of the inquiry remain sealed, and investigators have not yet published a final account of the funds or charged Flavio Bolsonaro with the offences under examination. The senator is entitled to the presumption of innocence while the police and court complete their work.

An investigation lands inside the campaign

The timing gives the case immediate political weight. Flavio Bolsonaro is challenging President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the October 4 election, and polling described by Al Jazeera suggested neither candidate was assured of an outright first-round majority. The Banco Master affair already reaches across political institutions, while the Supreme Court is managing internal disputes over the release and handling of evidence.

The broader public-interest issue is institutional credibility. The United Nations Convention against Corruption identifies corruption and money laundering as threats to democratic institutions, public administration and economic stability, while also recognising due-process protections. Brazil’s next tests will be whether investigators can follow the money without political interference and whether the Supreme Court can resolve disputes over the case transparently before voters cast their ballots.