Flavio Bolsonaro probed for corruption as Brazil election tightens

Brazilian Senator in next month’s election, is under investigation for alleged tied to failed lender Banco Master, according to court documents unsealed on Friday.

The probe into the senator, the eldest son of former president by Supreme Court Justice Andre Mendonca, a Bolsonaro appointee who has recently been hailed as a hero by many on Brazil’s right, including Flavio Bolsonaro himself.

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Probe stems from film financing

The investigation into Flavio Bolsonaro stems from questions over an investment he allegedly solicited from Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master, to help finance “Dark Horse”, a film about his father that stars US actor Jim Caviezel.

Flavio said Friday he had "nothing to hide" and insisted the financing of the film was "completely legal". 

Questions about the film’s financing emerged in May, prompting the senator to acknowledge seeking financial backing from Vorcaro, while denying wrongdoing. The disclosures cost him support in opinion polls at the time.

The unsealed documents show the federal police then requested an investigation, authorised by Justice Mendonca, to examine whether Senator Bolsonaro committed money laundering, illicit foreign exchange and corruption.

Police cited donations made by Vorcaro, who was arrested in March, to the film as grounds for seeking the probe.

The senator has repeatedly said his dealings with the banker were strictly private and unrelated to the matters under investigation by the federal police.

Supreme court crisis

The new developments intensify a crisis rattling Brazil as voters head into an unusually tight election campaign in which any major development could tip the balance in favor of either left-wing Lula or Bolsonaro.

Fachin has sought to resolve a public clash between justices Mendonca and Alexandre de Moraes, who has also been mentioned in the Banco Master probe, that thrust the court into one of its most severe internal crises in decades.

Mendonca made public documents from the investigation earlier this month, including dozens of messages that police say Vorcaro sent to Moraes. The disclosures prompted calls for an unprecedented investigation into a sitting Supreme Court justice over allegations that Moraes acted as an adviser to the banker.

Moraes, in response, accused Mendonca of abusing his authority.

Fachin scheduled a full-court session for Tuesday, when the court’s 10-member bench is expected to discuss allegations regarding Moraes’ relationship with Vorcaro.

'Disclose everything,' says Lula

Senator Bolsonaro’s supporters have attempted to link Lula to Moraes, who pursued former president Bolsonaro over a 2023 coup plot and secured his conviction last year.

During Independence Day rallies in Sao Paulo on Monday, a giant inflatable balloon depicting Mendonca towered over crowds gathered to support Bolsonaro’s campaign.

Seeking to distance himself from the crisis at the court, Lula publicly supported unsealing the investigation hours before Fachin’s decision.

“Whenever there is an allegation involving the judiciary or politics, it should be made public so everyone knows what is happening,” he said in an interview with SBT TV on Thursday.  “Investigate everything, disclose everything, regardless of who it hurts. "

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)