Senator Flavio Bolsonaro of the PL party, a candidate in October's presidential election, welcomed on September 11 the lifting of court secrecy over the investigation into "Dark Horse", a biopic about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, and called for the release of the inquiries targeting Fabio Luiz Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, the son of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. According to Folha de S.Paulo, he spoke at a campaign stop in Cabo Frio, in Rio de Janeiro state, and said the disclosure would have no effect on the race.
"Thank God, the secrecy has been lifted from everything, and it is out in the open for everyone to see what I have always said, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this film. I am very calm, the impact is zero. Everything is open for whoever wants to look."
The release of documents on Banco Master, a bank at the center of a Federal Police investigation, and its former controller, Daniel Vorcaro, showed that Flavio himself is under investigation in the film inquiry. The Federal Police is examining possible money laundering, currency evasion, corruption and related crimes. Folha reports that investigators suspect part of the money paid for the stay of Eduardo Bolsonaro, the senator's brother and a former federal lawmaker, in the United States. Flavio dismissed the development. "To my surprise, I have been investigated for two months and what has surfaced against me? Nothing. This is the greatest certificate of integrity, it is what I needed," he said, adding that he wanted the files made public so that Lula would "no longer use this narrative".
The senator then demanded the release of the inquiries into Lulinha. "I want to know how much money stolen from retirees ended up in the account of Lula's son, Lulinha. I want to know which ministries Marcola, Lula's chief of staff, opened for his son to do business inside the government," he said, referring to the INSS case. The INSS is Brazil's social security institute, which was hit by a fraud scandal.
According to the news site Poder360, two inquiries assigned to Andre Mendonca, a justice of the STF, Brazil's Supreme Court, examine possible influence peddling and money laundering involving Lulinha, the lobbyist Roberta Luchsinger, Lula's former chief of staff Marco Aurelio Ribeiro, known as Marcola, and former Health Ministry secretary Swedenberger Barbosa. The Prosecutor General's Office (PGR) has asked that the cases be sent to a lower court and says they have no connection to the INSS fraud. The outlet reported that prosecutors found no link between the scheme run by the man known as "Careca do INSS" and the president's son. Lulinha's lawyers say the case files justify archiving the inquiries.
What comes next depends on Mendonca. He has signaled he will not yet rule on the PGR request; if he refuses to send the cases to a lower court, prosecutors can take the dispute to the court's Second Panel. In the "Dark Horse" inquiry, the files ordered released on Friday (11) already show 20.9 million reais in production spending in Brazil, according to G1. The election is set for October 4, and the latest Datafolha poll gives Lula 39% against Flavio Bolsonaro's 35% in the first round.