São Paulo, Brazil — Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the defeated candidate in Sunday’s presidential election, fled to the United States on Tuesday after a judge barred him from leaving the country, according to political sources cited by local media.
Political allies of Bolsonaro confirmed that the former candidate boarded a US-bound flight, according to reports published by O Globo, Folha de S.Paulo, and other outlets, which did not name their sources.
Leaders of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL) convened a meeting at the party’s headquarters in Brasília, but have not yet officially confirmed the senator’s departure from the country.
Neither the senator’s press office nor his legal defense team have issued a statement regarding the reported flight of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s son.
Brazil’s Federal Police revoked the senator’s passports on Tuesday after he failed to comply with a court order requiring him to surrender them to authorities as part of an ongoing investigation.
On Monday, just one day after losing the election to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Flávio Bolsonaro was ordered to surrender his passports within 24 hours and was placed under a travel ban.
The ruling was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over the trial in which Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for an attempted coup d’état.
Because he failed to meet the deadline, the Federal Police formally canceled both documents, state news agency Agência Brasil reported.
After receiving the judicial order, Bolsonaro initially claimed he would hand over his passports and defend himself against what he described as an «attempted intimidation.
Flávio is under investigation by the Supreme Court in a case involving alleged money laundering, according to daily newspapers O Estado de S. Paulo and O Globo. The investigation remains sealed under judicial secrecy laws.
At the heart of the probe is Willer Tomaz, a lawyer and close friend of Flávio, who is accused of operating a corporate network involved in suspicious financial transactions tied to sports betting.
According to police reports cited by press outlets, Flávio was listed as a user with full administrative access to a shared account with Tomaz, who is also under investigation for a corruption scandal involving unauthorized pension deductions affecting millions of retirees.
On Monday, Flávio acknowledged the order to surrender his passports and denied having any intention to leave the country. This followed advice from his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro (former congressman currently living in self-imposed exile in the US after claiming judicial persecution) who had urged him to leave if he lost the election.
Flávio Bolsonaro lost the second round of the presidential election, securing 48% of the vote against Lula’s 52%. Lula’s victory marked an unprecedented comeback in Brazil’s democratic history after losing the first round on October 4.
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