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BRASILIA: Revelations that Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering rocked his right-wing campaign Friday, weeks before elections.<\/p>\n
Bolsonaro, the son of former leader Jair Bolsonaro, is vying for the presidency against leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the October ballot.<\/p>\n
A newly released court document revealed that police have been investigating Flavio Bolsonaro since July regarding possible crimes \u201cin the context of financing the production\u201d of a forthcoming film about his father.<\/p>\n
Police conducted dozens of raids Thursday over the alleged embezzlement of public funds by the company that produced the flattering biopic.<\/p>\n
\u201cDark Horse\u201d — starring US actor Jim Caviezel as Jair Bolsonaro — has been under scrutiny as part of a widening corruption scandal that has loomed over the election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have nothing to hide. The film is completely legal,\u201d Flavio Bolsonaro said at a campaign event on Friday.<\/p>\n
An investigation of this kind does not prevent someone from running for office in Brazil.<\/p>\n
Voters in Latin America\u2019s largest economy head to the polls on October 4, deeply polarized and with a weary sense of deja vu as Lula takes on Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old senator Flavio Bolsonaro was thrust into the electoral race after his father was jailed for attempting a coup in 2022.<\/p>\n
He has styled himself as a \u201cmore moderate\u201d version of his firebrand father. <\/p>\n
Neck and neck <\/strong><\/p>\n The right-wing candidate has vowed to \u201crescue\u201d Brazil from corruption, crime, high food prices and soaring public debt. His speeches are woven through with references to \u201cGod, country, family and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n He has also pledged a heavy hand on crime, which polls show is voters\u2019 main concern.<\/p>\n While Lula has promised to prioritize the fight against organized crime, his challenger blames him for not taking violence seriously enough.<\/p>\n Bolsonaro\u2019s campaign has been hit by disclosures that he approached notorious fraud-accused banker Daniel Vorcaro — head of the collapsed private bank Banco Master — for money, which Bolsonaro said was to finance \u201cDark Horse.\u201d<\/p>\n According to court documents obtained by AFP, investigators believe Flavio Bolsonaro personally met with Vorcaro and discussed the film\u2019s financing with him on several occasions.<\/p>\n The documents also point to the transfer of $12.3 million from a company indirectly linked to Vorcaro to another tied to an attorney for Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio\u2019s younger brother.<\/p>\n A police source told AFP that the targets of Thursday\u2019s raids included Karina Gama, head of the company that produced \u201cDark Horse,\u201d and Mario Frias, a pro-Bolsonaro congressman listed as the film\u2019s executive producer.<\/p>\n Both have been banned from leaving Brazil pending the investigation\u2019s outcome. Frias has said he is innocent, denouncing the \u201csmoke screen\u201d probe.<\/p>\n Police officials said the money came from parliamentary funds available to lawmakers to finance special projects, usually in their electoral strongholds.<\/p>\n Vorcaro\u2019s alleged interactions with Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, whom he apparently asked for legal help days before his arrest, have meanwhile triggered a crisis in Brazil\u2019s top court.<\/p>\n \u201cThe impact of corruption scandals is much greater for Lula\u2019s campaign than for Flavio\u2019s,\u201d said political scientist Mayra Goulart from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n However, new evidence against Bolsonaro closer to the election could influence \u201cvoters whose choice is less clearly defined,\u201d she told AFP.<\/p>\n Lula was imprisoned for 580 days on corruption charges in 2018 and 2019, but his conviction was later overturned.<\/p>\n He and Flavio Bolsonaro are neck-and-neck in voting intentions ahead of the first round.<\/p>\n If, as expected, no one wins an outright majority, a runoff will be held on October 25.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n