Brazil's top court lifts secrecy on Flavio Bolsonaro biopic probe

Documents allege $24 million moved to U.S. accounts linked to family

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Sunday ordered secrecy lifted on police documents in a corruption probe targeting presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, ruling that cell phone evidence be transferred to federal investigators and made public. Justice Flávio Dino of the Supreme Federal Court, or STF, issued the order in connection with an investigation into alleged misuse of public funds to finance a biographical film about Flavio’s father, imprisoned former President Jair Bolsonaro, CNN Brasil and the BBC reported.

The disclosure stems from documents generated by the Civil Police of São Paulo, which were sent to the STF by the State Court of Guarantees of Criminal Organizations and Money Laundering earlier on Sunday. Dino ruled that all raw material taken from the cell phones of suspects be handed over to the Federal Police and made public to avoid the risk of “selective leaks.”

In his ruling, Dino stated that the evidence points to the existence of a “sophisticated scheme” to divert public funds to finance the film, and suggested a possible link to the First Capital Command, or PCC, Brazil’s largest and most powerful transnational criminal organization.

The justice also ordered that the case be merged with a second probe examining the financing of the biopic, in which authorities are looking into actions taken by former banker Daniel Vorcaro and Bolsonaro, the presidential nominee for the Liberal Party.

The STF first opened a probe into the candidate in July, but it only became public on Friday — just weeks before the presidential election in which Flavio Bolsonaro has emerged as the main challenger to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Brazilian media reported that documents show Flavio Bolsonaro allegedly negotiated the transfer of $24 million to finance the production. The funds were allegedly deposited into U.S. accounts belonging to people close to the Bolsonaro family, prompting investigators to examine the ultimate destination of the transfers.

Also mentioned in the probe is Mário Frias, a Liberal Party federal deputy and executive producer of the film, who, according to investigators, may have had a leadership role in the alleged scheme. Frias has denied the accusations and denounced the probe as a “smokescreen,” claiming the funds had a legitimate social purpose.

The investigation could affect the tight race for president. Polls give Lula a lead of between 3 and 6 percentage points over Bolsonaro ahead of the first round to be held on Oct. 4. In a likely subsequent runoff, the surveys indicate a statistical dead heat between the two.