Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro, investigated at the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in a money laundering inquiry linked to online betting businesses, has left Brazil for the United States, Reuters reported on 27 October, citing a close ally and a US government source.
He left less than 48 hours after losing the 25 October presidential runoff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and after missing a deadline to hand his passports to the Federal Police (PF).
Flávio Bolsonaro betting probe
The inquiry centres on his friend, lawyer Willer Tomaz, who is accused of laundering money through business with betting companies, according to Agência Brasil’s summary of the STF inquiries. STF Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur, ordered a freeze of up to R$6bn of Tomaz’s assets in October.
The senator’s name came up when Tomaz’s secretary allegedly told the lawyer that an account tied to Alcazar Holdings had been cancelled. The company is based in Madeira, Portugal, and is under PF investigation. Bolsonaro and Tomaz both deny wrongdoing, Reuters reported.
Since July 2026 Bolsonaro has also been a formal target of a separate STF inquiry into payments from former banker Daniel Vorcaro for Dark Horse, a film about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. He has denied agreeing to any improper advantage and said the funds were private.
The passport deadline
On 26 October, a day after the runoff, Moraes barred Bolsonaro from leaving Brazil, and the PF gave him 24 hours to surrender all his passports. The deadline ran out on the morning of 27 October. The passports were not handed in and the PF cancelled them. A PF official told Reuters the senator left without passing through a regular immigration checkpoint.
In a video posted on 26 October, Bolsonaro denied any plan to leave and said he would stay to lead the opposition to Lula. A day later, Simón Levy, an investor and former Mexican tourism official, wrote on social media that Bolsonaro had reached the US in an operation led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Lula’s response
Lula called the departure “a shameful act” on 27 October, speaking to supporters who gathered outside the Alvorada Palace in Brasília for his 81st birthday, Agência Brasil reported.
This act of leaving Brazil is shameful. He should have surrendered his passport. The Federal Police should have suspected he was leaving Brazil; he has an ongoing investigation.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, to supporters at the Alvorada Palace (translated from Portuguese)
Lula, who handed in his passport and surrendered to the PF in April 2018 before spending 580 days in prison, said anyone who leaves the country in secret “owes something”. In April 2026 he called for a ban on online betting platforms, and his Workers’ Party later tabled a bill to ban fixed-odds betting.
Next steps
Bolsonaro keeps his Senate mandate until 1 February 2027. Under current STF precedent, both inquiries are expected to stay at the court after the mandate ends, because the alleged offences relate to his public office, according to Agência Brasil. A separate STF hearing on Brazil’s betting ban is set for 3 November.
Source: Agência Brasil, Reuters
