Brazil’s Supreme Court opens money laundering inquiry involving Flávio Bolsonaro and lawyer Willer Tomaz

Brazil’s Federal Police is examining whether Flávio Bolsonaro, the PL presidential candidate, acted alongside lawyer Willer Tomaz in a suspected money laundering scheme. For payment providers watching high-risk flows in Brazil, the relevant detail is not the politics but the path the case takes: a betting-linked investigation, telematic data access, bank-account records, and a transfer to the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF).

1. The inquiry is being handled by the STF under Justice Alexandre de Moraes. It stems from a Federal Police investigation in Rio Grande do Sul into alleged foreign exchange evasion and money laundering through sports betting platforms, or “bets.”
2. Investigators say they found signs that Tomaz controls Rede Loto, a betting house authorized by the Rio de Janeiro government to operate in May 2023. Based on that material, police requested access to Tomaz’s telematic data, which gave them messages, emails, and other information from his phone.
3. According to the Federal Police report, the “elements analyzed” showed proximity between Bolsonaro and Tomaz. One email, cited by GLOBO columnist Malu Gaspar, showed Bolsonaro registered as a “master user” on a joint bank account with Tomaz.
4. The account was at Santander, in the name of Alcazar Holdings and managed by Tomaz. Email exchanges obtained by the Federal Police from Tomaz’s iCloud indicate that by May 2025 it was also linked to Flávio Bolsonaro. In May, one of Tomaz’s assistants asked the bank to unlink an account identified with Bolsonaro’s name and another in Tomaz’s name; Santander confirmed the removal. Bolsonaro and Tomaz deny sharing a bank account and say the email does not prove a financial relationship.
5. Tomaz is also under scrutiny for his transactions on the Blaze betting platform. He went to court seeking to recover R$ 163,2 million he says he lost in virtual casino games during 2025. His filing included documents showing R$ 4,8 billion in winnings and R$ 4,96 billion in losses, or almost R$ 10 billion moved through bets and prizes.

Tomaz has also been investigated over alleged fraud involving the INSS and has already been the target of a search-and-seizure warrant. Flávio Bolsonaro is separately named in an STF inquiry into financing for the film “Dark Horse,” about former president Jair Bolsonaro, with alleged money laundering, foreign exchange evasion, and corruption on the list of suspected offenses.