Senator Flavio Bolsonaro of the PL party, a candidate in Brazil's presidential election, was questioned at length on TV Globo on Friday (28) by anchors Renata Vasconcellos and Cesar Tralli. The interview, broadcast from Globo's studios in Rio de Janeiro, was the fifth in a series with the six presidential candidates ranked highest in the Quaest poll released on August 14. This is the first election in which Globo airs these candidate interviews, known in Brazil as sabatinas, after the "Jornal Nacional" evening newscast. In previous races they ran inside the newscast itself. The running order was drawn by lot with party representatives present.
Vorcaro and 'Dark Horse'
The interview was dominated by the case of "Dark Horse", a film biography of former president Jair Bolsonaro, the candidate's father. Flavio said there was nothing wrong with having sought jailed former banker Daniel Vorcaro, of Banco Master, to bankroll the production.
"There is absolutely nothing irregular about this film (...) It was sponsorship, there was no transfer to Flavio Bolsonaro", the candidate said.
In May, the website The Intercept Brasil published messages and an audio recording in which Flavio asks Vorcaro for money for the film. According to that report, the former banker transferred 61 million reais to the production. The payments are under investigation by the federal police in an inquiry authorized by Supreme Federal Tribunal Justice Andre Mendonca. Investigators are looking into whether part of the money paid bills of former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, the candidate's brother, in the United States, and whether congressional budget funds were diverted. Asked about his relationship with Vorcaro, Flavio said: "The only relationship I had with him was about this film, nothing else". He added: "I didn't want that work of art to be lost (...) It was a dream coming true".
Fact-checks and what comes next
Pressed to release the film's contract and spending records, Flavio said the accounting had been delivered ahead of the 30-day deadline he himself had set, including to an inquiry at the Sao Paulo state civil police. Globo's Fato ou Fake team rated the claim false. According to the fact-check, a report submitted in June by businesswoman Karina Ferreira da Gama, owner of production company Go Up Entertainment, lists costs of 75.1 million reais but contains no invoices, receipts or proof of the origin of the money, and the hired expert admitted he had no access to the American Havengate fund. Another statement, that the transfer was private "sponsorship", got the outlet's "not quite" label: in May, Flavio himself had told GloboNews the funds went to a US-based fund run by Eduardo Bolsonaro's lawyer. According to the g1 blog of journalist Andreia Sadi, the federal police are probing suspected passive corruption and money laundering in deals involving the candidate and the film.
Asked whether it was appropriate to visit Vorcaro in late 2025, when the banker was already under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor, Flavio did not answer directly and turned on President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. "What is not appropriate is a president receiving a banker in a secret meeting (...) it is Lula who owes explanations", he said. Lula said in February that he met Vorcaro in late 2024 at the request of former minister Guido Mantega, in a meeting kept off the official presidential calendar, and that he assured the banker there would be "a technical investigation, carried out by the Central Bank".
On the January 8, 2023 riots in Brasilia, Flavio was asked what guarantees he could give voters that he would not attempt a coup. The candidate criticized the Supreme Court sentence of 27 years and 3 months handed to his father and said "a great farce was staged" to "take Bolsonaro out of public life".
CNN Brasil reported on the same Friday that the producer of "Dark Horse" postponed to the coming week the handover to the federal police of documents on the film. The request was made on August 18, asking for invoices, contracts, expense statements and proof of the origin of the funds. The inquiry remains with Justice Mendonca at the Supreme Court. The interview series ended on Saturday (29) with Augusto Cury of the Avante party. The first round of the election is set for October 4. According to BBC News Brasil, Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro lead the polls.