Overview
- Investigative outlet The Intercept Brasil on Wednesday released audio of Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro asking banker Daniel Vorcaro for overdue payments tied to a pledge of about $24 million for a Jair Bolsonaro biopic called The Dark Horse.
- After the recordings surfaced, Flávio said the deal was a private sponsorship with zero public money and no favors offered, and he acknowledged contact with Vorcaro after earlier media denials.
- Following Wednesday’s leak, Brazil’s currency fell more than 2% and the Bovespa closed 1.8% lower, as investors weighed the political fallout and legal risk.
- Vorcaro, the former owner of collapsed Banco Master, was jailed in March during a fraud probe after the central bank liquidated the lender in November; investigators say losses hit hundreds of thousands of investors, and reports say Vorcaro has sought a plea deal.
- The fallout now threatens Flávio’s campaign, with polls showing him roughly even with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and government allies pressing for Senate ethics action and a congressional inquiry that could seek his banking and tax records.