One of the main concerns of the senator’s (PL) allies for this year’s campaign for the Presidency of the Republic is the effects of the “crack” case on the pre-candidate’s image.
The investigations were closed after the STF (Supreme Federal Court) and the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) annulled the evidence collected in 2021. The filing left a series of open questions about Flávio’s financial transactions before reaching the Senate.
The senator was denounced in November 2020 by the Attorney General’s Office on charges of leading a criminal organization for his own benefit. The practice, known as “rachadinha”, would have diverted R$6 million in public resources from Alerj (Rio de Janeiro’s Legislative Assembly).
The senator always denied the suspicions. He stated, in a note, that he and his “collaborators had their accounts raided and their lives turned upside down.”
“The investigations are irrefutable proof of Flávio Bolsonaro’s honesty. Unlike Lula, who was condemned by nine different judges. Currently, there is no investigation that accuses or investigates Flávio Bolsonaro for wrongdoing or malfeasance”, said his advisor, in a statement.
Below are unanswered questions about the case:
What was Flávio Bolsonaro and his family’s source of cash?
The MP-RJ investigation showed that a large part of the senator’s expenses were paid with cash, despite the fact that he did not make withdrawals in a corresponding volume and, until 2014, did not have any declared source of income outside of parliamentary activity.
The Prosecutor’s Office divided the investigation into three periods.
Between 2007 and 2009, the then deputy purchased 12 commercial offices in Barra (west zone of Rio de Janeiro). The investigation identified that the transaction, worth R$297 thousand, was almost entirely paid in cash.
In this case, there was no accusation of money laundering because the senator declared loans taken out with his brother Carlos Bolsonaro and other former advisors in his Income Tax. These transactions also occurred, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, in cash.
The accusations refer to the period between 2010 and 2014. During this period, he and his wife, dentist Fernanda Bolsonaro, only held public positions, with no declared source of income in kind.
This is the most intense period of real estate transactions for the couple. It was also when the Prosecutor’s Office identified at least R$977,000 in expenses without proven origin.
Fernanda’s breach of banking secrecy showed that the former advisor had the senator’s wife’s account days before paying the down payment on a property. Months later, on the eve of the second installment, there was another credit in kind, worth R$20,000.
The Prosecutor’s Office also identified a series of cash deposits in Flávio’s account on dates prior to the payment of installments for the purchase of properties in the transaction, which totaled R$281,500.
The investigation also pointed out the use of cash to pay taxes, airline tickets, health insurance and schooling for the senator’s daughters.
In relation to the years 2015 to 2018, no crime was identified because Flávio had already become a partner in a chocolate store. The MP-RJ had initiated a separate procedure to further investigate the establishment.
What explains the fact that the person who sold two apartments to Flávio Bolsonaro deposited an amount into his account on the same day of the transaction that was not officially registered?
One of the transactions that raised the most suspicion was the purchase on the same day of two apartments in Copacabana (south zone), in November 2012.
According to the deeds, the apartments had been purchased for R$440,000 in 2011 by the previous owners. In 2012, they were sold for R$310,000 to the senator. In 2014, Flávio resold them for R$1.12 million.
The in two years caught attention. Furthermore, the seller closed the transaction with the senator for a value 30% below what had been paid a year earlier for the apartments.
The Prosecutor’s Office states that the senator’s suspicion of “outside payment” was confirmed.
The MP-RJ identified that the person responsible for selling the properties, American broker Glenn Dillard, deposited R$638,000 in cash into his account on the same day the transaction was made official.
What did Flávio Bolsonaro keep in the safe, together with his brother Carlos Bolsonaro?
The senator kept a safe with the former councilor at Banco do Brasil for 12 years. His existence was . The joint ownership with Flávio was identified in the investigation into the existence of a “rachadinha” scheme in Carlos’ office.
When opening the safe, in 2004, bank employees noted that the situation deserved urgency, “as our client needs valuables safekeeping”. They did not declare to the Electoral Court any value held there when they registered their candidacies at that time.
When commenting on the topic, the senator stated that he kept “personal items” in the safe “for security reasons”.
Is there a relationship between access and property acquisitions?
The dates of access to Flávio and Carlos’ safe coincide with the Bolsonaro family’s real estate operations. One of the transactions was precisely the purchase of two properties in Copacabana, identified as suspicious by the MP-RJ.
They were also at the bank on the days when the former president bought the two houses he maintains in Condomínio Vivendas da Barra. As , one of the transactions contains characteristics suspicious of money laundering according to Coaf criteria.
Why did Flávio omit investments made in shares between 2007 and 2008 from the Federal Revenue?
The MP-RJ states that Flávio did not declare to the Federal Revenue Service that he claimed to have done so through a broker in São Paulo. The senator declared having made contributions of R$90,000.
He sued the brokerage due to losses. In the action, he said that he paid off a debt of R$15,500 with cash.
What explains the disparity between the chocolate store’s revenue and that verified by the management of the Via Parque shopping mall?
The MP-RJ pointed out that the income of the chocolate store in which Flávio Bolsonaro became a partner had its revenue inflated to enable money laundering from the “rachadinha” scheme in the amount of R$1.6 million.
The value refers to the difference between the revenue recorded by Via Parque, where the store was located, and the credits in the establishment’s account. According to the investigation, while the mall’s management reported revenue of R$4.9 million between 2015 and 2018, the company received R$6.5 million from the bank.
For investigators, the proportion of cash deposits was higher than in other branches of the same brand. Furthermore, while payments made by card increased at Easter — as expected for a chocolate store —, the use of cash resources remained at the same level.
