Flavio Bolsonaro In Miami As Betting-Linked Probe Continues
Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro landed in Miami on October 28, 2026, after missing a Supreme Court deadline to hand over his passports, while a federal police inquiry into alleged money laundering through a betting company continues.
The case has put Brazil's licensed betting industry under fresh scrutiny. Bolsonaro and the lawyer at the centre of the inquiry deny the accusations, according to Folha de S.Paulo.
He has not been charged in the betting case. It remains an investigation overseen at the Supreme Court by Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Casino Games Hub
The Journey To Miami
Bolsonaro lost the presidential runoff to Lula on October 25, with Lula taking 51.79% of valid votes to his 48.21%. That night, Moraes ordered him to surrender his passports to the federal police by 11am on October 27. He did not, g1 reported.
Argentina's migration agency said he and his family entered by land at 10:50pm Brasília time on October 27 over the Tancredo Neves bridge and carried valid documentation. They flew from Puerto Iguazu on a private jet via Guayaquil in Ecuador, avoiding Brazilian airspace, and landed at Opa-locka airport in Miami at 10:24am on October 28.
US Customs data indicated he used a cancelled diplomatic passport to enter, and the US State Department had said it would grant visas to him and his family. He had not commented publicly when g1 published.
The Betting Investigation
The inquiry centres on lawyer Willer Tomaz, a friend of Bolsonaro. g1 reported that investigators who accessed Tomaz's data found emails indicating the senator was registered as a master user of a bank account belonging to Alcazar Holdings, a company owned by Tomaz.
The federal police report cites elements indicating Tomaz's de facto control or ownership of Rede Loto, described as the first company authorised by Rio de Janeiro's state lottery, Loterj, to run fixed-odds sports betting in the state, in its overview of the investigations.
Folha reported that Rede Loto's sole shareholder is Cathedral Holding, a Portuguese company mostly owned by Tomaz and his relatives, and that Rede Loto owns the BestBet betting brand. The newspaper said the two men's families travelled on tickets paid by Cathedral.
Investigators suspect a hidden partnership used to launder money through the betting house, Folha reported. Tomaz is separately investigated in a federal operation into fraud against Brazil's social security institute.
Restrictions And Other Cases
Moraes also ordered that Bolsonaro not contact Tomaz. A second Supreme Court inquiry examines the financing of the film Dark Horse, about former president Jair Bolsonaro, including payments from Daniel Vorcaro, former owner of Banco Master.
g1 reported that both cases are expected to remain at the Supreme Court even though Bolsonaro's Senate term ends in 2027, under a 2025 ruling on jurisdiction.
The inquiry matters for the betting industry because it concerns a state-licensed operator. Allegations against an operator or its owners are not findings, and none has been proven. We will update this story as the case develops.
