Flávio Bolsonaro faces gambling money laundering claims before Brazil run-off

Brazil's presidential run-off, due on Sunday 25 October between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, has been overshadowed by allegations that the senator was connected to a money laundering scheme run through online betting platforms.

According to SBC Noticias Brazil, Polícia Federal is examining Bolsonaro's ties to lawyer Willer Tomaz, described in the investigation as a friend of the senator, who is alleged to have moved millions of reais through gambling businesses linked to his own companies.

The claims were first reported by the investigative outlet piauí and followed up by Folha de S.Paulo, which said Tomaz generated R$6.3bn (roughly €1bn) in wagering transactions between 2025 and 2026, the bulk of it placed through the Blaze platform.

No charges have been brought against Tomaz. He has disputed the R$6.3bn figure as an inflated measure of cumulative betting turnover, and says his actual deposits over the period totalled R$326m (about €57m) against withdrawals of R$234m (about €41m), insisting the funds came from legitimate sources.

Investigators also want to question Bolsonaro over an alleged indirect stake he failed to disclose in Best Bet, a betting brand run by Rede Loto under authorisation from LOTERJ, the Rio de Janeiro state lottery. Tomaz is a partner in Cathedral Holdings, a Madeira-registered company that holds a majority stake in Rede Loto.

Scrutiny has extended to a separate Tomaz vehicle in Madeira, Alcazar Holdings, after documents cited by piauí reportedly named Bolsonaro as a 'master user' on an Alcazar bank account, a status that could have given him sight of its financial records and authority to approve transactions. Both men deny Bolsonaro held any stake in Best Bet or had access to the account, and the allegations remain unproven.

Bolsonaro's status as a sitting senator gives him special jurisdiction, meaning criminal matters tied to his parliamentary role would fall to Brazil's Supreme Federal Court. SBC Noticias Brazil noted that, should he win the presidency, Article 86 of the Federal Constitution would shield him from criminal liability during his term for acts unconnected to his official duties.

The timing hands Lula a political gift as he defends his decision to shut down Brazil's regulated betting framework through a provisional measure issued on 25 September and sanctioned on 6 October.

Lula has called on Bolsonaro to publish his bank statements, tax filings and phone records, offering to disclose equivalent material for himself and his family, while his Workers' Party has also demanded records relating to Alcazar Holdings.

Both campaigns have filed a disclosure agreement with the electoral court, but its scope is disputed: Lula's team says Alcazar should be covered, while Bolsonaro's representatives argue releasing the company's finances requires Tomaz's consent. No judicial ruling on publication has yet been sought.

Congress still has to settle the longer-term fate of Lula's gambling ban, but Sunday's vote will effectively decide the immediate future of the Bets regime. A Bolsonaro victory would not guarantee operators a swift return, since he has pledged only to find a solution for football clubs and betting firms without committing to restore full licensing, reflecting his family's longstanding scepticism toward the legalised market's social costs.

Lula's measure allows existing authorisations to lapse without compensation, a provision already contested by Flamengo and other Série A clubs through a Supreme Court challenge for direct redress. With the market's legal footing unsettled regardless of Sunday's result, any future revival looks set to be shaped piecemeal by electoral deal-making, congressional amendments and ongoing litigation.