Flávio Bolsonaro lands in Miami as betting-linked money laundering probe continues
As iGB reported earlier on Wednesday, the senator left the country after losing Sunday’s presidential runoff to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Guardian reported that his private jet touched down at Miami-Opa Locka executive airport, and that he was driven away by police and made no comment. A press conference is expected on either Wednesday or Thursday.
A senior US State Department official said the family would receive US visas. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday night that he would approve their move.
The betting case
Bolsonaro faces at least two criminal investigations. One concerns suspicions he took part in a money-laundering scheme worth around $905 million involving betting companies.
Shortly after the result, the Federal Police asked the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to hold his passports in that case, fearing he would run. Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered him to hand over his civilian and diplomatic passports and banned him from leaving Brazil. He had not complied by 11am on Tuesday, so police cancelled them.
Investigators suspect Bolsonaro secretly co-owned betting businesses with lawyer Willer Tomaz, who is also being investigated. Tomaz is the sole owner of Rede Loto, the company behind BestBet and two other Rio de Janeiro-licensed brands. Piauí magazine reported that Bolsonaro was a hidden partner in them.
The numbers at BestBet raised questions. Over almost two years, the brand took just over BRL360,000 ($67,275), less than a tenth of the BRL5 million it paid for its state licence. It did no marketing at all. Meanwhile, Tomaz wagered more than BRL10 billion on sports via Blaze. Brazil’s betting regulator, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), named him the country’s biggest gambler.
Police also say both men had top-level access to a Santander account. Both deny it, but investigators point to a message from Tomaz asking the bank to remove Bolsonaro’s access.
Escape via Argentina and Ecuador
Bolsonaro was not seen for over a day after the vote. Argentine migration authorities then said he had crossed into the country by land on Tuesday night. According to the Guardian, he boarded the jet at Puerto Iguazú around 11.30pm with his wife and two daughters. The plane flew to Guayaquil, Ecuador, a route that reportedly kept it out of Brazilian airspace, before continuing to Miami.
The Guardian also cited Brazilian newspaper O Globo, which reported that the escape had been prepared weeks in advance in case he lost. His brother Eduardo, who lives in self-imposed exile in the US, was its main organiser. The Federal Police are under fire for letting him leave.
Lula called the flight “shameful”.
Because Bolsonaro lost, the cases stay at the Supreme Court. A 2025 ruling keeps crimes linked to a politician’s time in office there, even after they leave. A win would have protected him, as Brazil’s Constitution bars prosecuting a sitting president for acts committed outside his term.