The revelation that Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) asked former banker Daniel Vorcaro for money to finance a film about former President Jair Bolsonaro has shaken his presidential campaign. That is the conclusion of an analysis published by Folha de S.Paulo on Thursday (27), which details the liabilities weighing on the candidate in Brazil's 2026 election.
According to Folha, Flávio had been trying to pin the Banco Master scandal on the Workers' Party (PT) and the left. That line of attack lost force after Senator Ciro Nogueira (PP), a former minister under Jair Bolsonaro, was targeted by a Federal Police operation in the bank investigation. The analysis also lists against the candidate the weight of the Bolsonaro name, the lack of executive experience, the rachadinhas case, a salary kickback scheme from his time as a state deputy that was never fully clarified, purchases made in cash, his support for the Trump administration with talk of handing over natural resources, and his rejection among voters.
The audio and the R$ 134 million
The Vorcaro case surfaced in May, when Intercept Brasil released audio and messages from the negotiations. According to the material, Flávio asked the banker for up to US$ 24 million, about R$ 134 million, to bankroll Dark Horse, a fictionalized biopic of his father. Identified transfers total at least US$ 10.6 million, roughly R$ 61 million. In a September 2025 recording, the senator presses Vorcaro, who is now in jail, for more money.
The money went to the Havengate Development Fund LP, a fund based in Texas, in the United States, represented by the law office of Paulo Calixto, who also works for Eduardo Bolsonaro, the senator's brother. Flávio confirmed he requested the funds. He said a confidentiality clause explained why he had not disclosed the relationship with Vorcaro before.
Producer Go Up Entertainment states, in an expert report attached to a court case, that the film cost R$ 75 million, with R$ 54 million spent in the United States and R$ 20.9 million in Brazil. The document says the funding was private and channeled through Havengate, but does not identify the financiers. Vorcaro's name does not appear. The company denies receiving money from the former banker.
"A turned page"
On the campaign trail, Flávio treats the matter as closed. "It already happened," he said on August 20 in São Paulo, saying he had seen the accounting and that "everything was in order." For the senator, Dark Horse is "a turned page." On Monday (24), at an event at Fiesp, the industry federation of the state of São Paulo, he was pressed again. "I am not the one who has to account for this. It is Lula who has to account for it," he replied. To reporters, he asked: "Are you going to stay stuck in time?"
The deadline the senator himself announced to release a detailed accounting from the producer expired on June 18, with no documents made public. In July, he said he was "100% willing" to release the film's contract. The contract has not been released either.
The production remains under investigation. According to Brasil de Fato, the inquiries include the possible irregular use of public funds and the absence of mandatory licenses from Ancine, Brazil's national film agency. With the first round set for October, less than six weeks away, the PL campaign is trying to contain the damage, while Folha notes that the episode has undercut Flávio's bid to present himself as a moderate without giving up his defense of amnesty and of his father's legacy.