Right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro has arrived in the United States hours after Brazil's Supreme Court cancelled his passports, according to sources who spoke with BBC News. The defeated presidential candidate departed Brazil following a court order requiring him to surrender his travel documents as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering. Bolsonaro has not been charged and has denied all allegations.
The 45-year-old senator's passports were revoked on Tuesday after he failed to meet a deadline imposed by the court to hand them over to authorities. President Donald Trump approved allowing Bolsonaro into the United States, and US officials said visas would be issued to him and his family. Sources told BBC Brazil and BBC Mundo that Bolsonaro met with his younger brother Eduardo in Florida, though the exact route he took from Brazil remains unclear.
On 25 October, Bolsonaro suffered a decisive electoral defeat when he lost a presidential runoff to left-wing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula won with 51.79% of the vote, compared to Bolsonaro's 48.21%, marking the first time in Brazil's presidential history that a candidate who trailed in the first round went on to win the second round. Despite trailing by 4.4 million votes, Bolsonaro has refused to concede and has called for the election to be annulled.
Why did the court cancel his passports?
Brazil's Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his passports within 24 hours as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering. The order was issued by Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Monday, 26 October. The Supreme Court order also barred Bolsonaro from communicating with lawyer Willer Tomaz, directly or through an intermediary, and required a migration alert in Brazil's Sonar travel-monitoring system.
When Bolsonaro missed the deadline, his lawyers told BBC Brasil they were "completely in the dark" about his whereabouts. "We knew nothing about this, and we still have no information about what happened," one lawyer stated. Federal officers checked border crossings to determine whether Bolsonaro had travelled to neighbouring Argentina, but Argentine authorities told the BBC there was no record of him entering their country through any border crossing.
What investigations is Bolsonaro facing?
Bolsonaro is the subject of multiple inquiries. One investigation concerns alleged corruption related to the financing of a film about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup and is under house arrest. The separate film-funding inquiry concerns at least R$65 million (about $10 million) from Banco Master's Daniel Vorcaro.
A separate inquiry involves alleged links to lawyer Willer Tomaz, who is accused of laundering more than $1 billion through a fraud scheme. Police said Bolsonaro had access to bank accounts belonging to a company owned by Tomaz; a person employed by Tomaz asked the bank to revoke that access in May 2025, according to a police report reviewed by The New York Times. Bolsonaro has denied doing business with Tomaz and described the passport confiscation as an attempt to intimidate him.
Additionally, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered police on Tuesday to examine Bolsonaro's electoral campaign over alleged foreign funding. Days before the election, Tomaz travelled to the United States, according to federal police.
How did Bolsonaro lose the election?
Bolsonaro had been widely expected to win the runoff. Opinion polls had put him narrowly ahead of Lula, and his victory in the first round on 4 October suggested he was likely to secure the presidency. However, after taking an early lead in the count on election day, he was overtaken by the veteran incumbent.
Bolsonaro has challenged the result, arguing that he was disadvantaged because voting was extended by two hours on election day. He called the extension, which was ordered by a Supreme Court justice, a "dirty trick". However, the extension was requested by both his party and Lula's party. The Liberal Party, which Bolsonaro represented, has accepted the election result, though it said the voting extension "merits investigation".
What is Bolsonaro's current status?
Bolsonaro has not made any public statements since Monday afternoon local time, when he posted a video on social media. His exact travel route from Brazil to the United States remains unclear, and it is unknown who travelled with him or whether he intends to remain in the country permanently. His younger brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in Texas, was in Miami on 25 October, where he cast his vote at a polling station and attended an election viewing event streamed to his followers. Sources have confirmed that Flávio has already met with Eduardo in Florida.
