Brazil’s Flávio Bolsonaro faces corruption investigation weeks before elections

SAO PAULO — Brazilian presidential candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro is under investigation for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion for receiving millions of dollars from a disgraced banker to finance a movie about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil’s top court unsealed several documents late Thursday that show Sen. Bolsonaro, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s primary opponent, is under investigation for receiving 61 million reais ($12 million) from a banker at the center of a corruption scandal to produce an unreleased movie titled “The Dark Horse.”

The investigation, which centers on whether the Bolsonaro family misused the funds and whether the payments were properly reported to Brazilian authorities, threatens to undermine Sen. Bolsonaro’s bid for the presidency. The first round of elections is slated for Oct. 4, and the senator is locked in a tight race with Lula.

The banker, Daniel Vorcaro, who was arrested in March, is accused of defrauding many of Banco Master’s 800,000 clients, including several state government pension funds, out of hundreds of millions of dollars by convincing them to make questionable investments. The scandal has engulfed several high-ranking officials in Brazil.

The allegations first became public in May. Sen. Bolsonaro has denied any…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business