Flávio Bolsonaro must surrender passports after election loss in Brazil

Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro is no longer allowed to leave Brazil. On Monday, October 26, the Federal Police (Polícia Federal) ordered the senator to surrender his passports. The order came one day after his loss to President Lula in the runoff.

The measure was ordered by Alexandre de Moraes, a justice on Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF). The decision is sealed. Bolsonaro confirmed it in a video on social media.

According to his account, he was approached in the morning as he left his father's home in the Lago Sul neighborhood of the capital, Brasília. "This morning I visited my father. As you know, he is under house arrest. When I came out, Lula's Federal Police were standing at his front door," he said. He said he was told in the middle of the street to hand over his passports. He was also told he could not leave the country.

His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for the coup attempt.

Flávio Bolsonaro called the measure an outrage and a clear attempt at intimidation. He said he would nevertheless comply with the order and challenge it in court. His press office said the passports would be handed over within the deadline.

Moraes bars contact with businessman

The news portal g1 was able to review the document. According to it, Moraes addressed a letter to the Federal Police director general, Andrei Rodrigues. The order includes:

• surrender of his regular and diplomatic Brazilian passports within 24 hours,
• surrender of any passports from other countries,
• a ban on leaving the country and an entry in the Federal Police's SONAR migration control system,
• notification of the Foreign Ministry about the diplomatic documents,
• a ban on direct or indirect contact with the lawyer and businessman Willer T.

The legal basis is Brazil's Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides for such conditions as an alternative to detention.

On X, the Spanish-language account of the prediction platform Polymarket posted about the order against Bolsonaro.

Money laundering investigation

The measure is part of an investigation at the STF into Flávio Bolsonaro and Willer T. It concerns suspected money laundering and illegal capital flight in connection with the sports betting market and payment systems. Moraes is the justice in charge of the case.

According to a Federal Police report, Bolsonaro was registered as the main user, with wide-ranging access rights, of a bank account belonging to Alcazar Holdings. The offshore company, based on Madeira in Portugal, is controlled by Willer T. Emails reportedly show that the access was to be deleted in May 2025. The report also mentions joint trips, some of which were reportedly paid for by the businessman's companies, as well as meetings.

According to the Portuguese newspaper A Bola, investigators are examining whether Bolsonaro moved money through the account. Transactions of around 130 million reais between March and May 2025 are said to be under analysis. Willer T.'s defense denies that Bolsonaro had access to the account.

On Friday, October 23, Moraes had already frozen assets of Willer T. worth up to six billion reais. He lifted bank, tax and foreign exchange secrecy, suspended business activities and revoked the businessman's passports. Willer T. has been abroad since August, including in the United States.

Both deny any business ties and any wrongdoing. The defense speaks of a personal friendship and disproportionate measures.

A second investigation, led by STF Justice André Mendonça, concerns the financing of the film "Dark Horse" and a banker. Bolsonaro remains a senator for now; his term runs until early 2027. The STF has secured its jurisdiction over certain offenses even beyond the end of a term.

Bolsonaro sees link to election defeat

In the runoff on Sunday, October 25, Lula won with about 51.79 percent of the vote, or roughly 64.3 million votes. Bolsonaro received about 48.21 percent, or roughly 59.8 million votes. He had led in the first round. Bolsonaro does not recognize the result and announced he would seek its annulment, citing among other things the extension of voting hours by an STF justice.

As we reported on October 19, Lula and Bolsonaro had traded barbs over the votes of prisoners a week before the runoff.

Flávio Bolsonaro attributes the order to a statement by his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro. On Friday, October 23, Eduardo said on the US podcast "Louder with Crowder": "If my brother doesn't win, I'm in favor of my brother leaving the country. For sure."

Eduardo Bolsonaro has lived in the United States since 2025, and an arrest warrant is out against him. He was sentenced to four years and two months in prison for coercion. The case stems from his campaign for US sanctions and tariffs against Brazil during the trial of his father.

Flávio Bolsonaro stressed that he himself had never said he wanted to leave the country and had never planned to. He said the decision was made on Sunday evening after the election result was announced. He asked whether the same thing would have happened if he had won.

According to the newspaper Gazeta do Povo, the lawmakers Duda Salabert, Otoni de Paula and Rogério Correia had previously asked Moraes to confiscate Bolsonaro's passports. In his video, Bolsonaro himself struck a defiant tone: "No one will silence me."