PF says ally of Flávio Bolsonaro paid for Cláudio Castro’s trips and won a lottery and bets contract in Rio de Janeiro

Brazil’s Federal Police says lawyer Willer Tomaz paid for foreign trips taken by Rio de Janeiro Governor Cláudio Castro and his family, while a company linked to Tomaz, Rio Pag, secured a million-real payments contract in the state lottery and bets business. For PSPs and acquirers, the useful bit is not the political theatre; it is how access, travel spending, and payment rights all sit in the same file.

1. The PF says it found evidence that Tomaz, a personal friend of Flávio Bolsonaro and a target in a money laundering inquiry with him, financed trips by Castro and relatives abroad. The report says at least two of the three trips mentioned were international, and one of them took place on the same jet that carried Flávio Bolsonaro back from the United States in January 2025, with Daniel Vorcaro also listed as a cotist, or unit holder.
2. In messages obtained by investigators, Castro calls Tomaz “brother.” The two were communicating through more than one phone number, according to WhatsApp exchanges cited in the report. The PF also says Castro traveled to Lima, Peru, and to Florida, United States, on Tomaz’s executive jets.
3. The same PF material says Tomaz admitted in a December 2024 email to a bank that he is a partner in Rio Pag. Since 2023, Rio Pag has processed payments for the bets of Loteria do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, known as Loterj. Until then, Tomaz had denied any ownership or management role in the company and said he was only its lawyer.
4. The contract was signed during Castro’s administration, when Loterj was chaired by Hazenclever Lopes, a lawyer who worked with Tomaz in higher courts and also worked at his firm. The contract was later canceled by the interim administration of Ricardo Couto over suspected irregularities, according to the report.
5. The PF says Hazenclever Lopes also had flights and accommodation paid for by Tomaz. In one of the communications dated 24 June 2025, a Netjets employee asked whether Castro’s children would travel with the couple and requested the address where everyone would stay in Orlando. Tomaz replied that both Castro and Analine would be on the plane and that they would stay in a condominium in Kissimmee, in the Orlando metro area.