SAO PAULO (AP) — A year ago, Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro touted his family’s connection with U.S. President Donald Trump as a major political asset. This week, Bolsonaro is in Washington leaning into that relationship again in an attempt to shore up his weakening presidential bid after he received millions of dollars from a disgraced banker.Bolsonaro arrived on Tuesday without a public agenda. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his rival in October’s elections, had a three-hour meeting with Trump on May 7. The 80-year-old leader seeks a fourth, nonconsecutive term.The Trump administration has not commented publicly on the Bolsonaro scandal.The son of former President Jair Bolsonaro has been under fire since May 13, when messages leaked by The Intercept from a federal police investigation showed he received about $12 million from Daniel Vorcaro, former owner of the shuttered Banco Master.
Vorcaro is accused of defrauding bank customers out of hundreds of millions of dollars after he convinced them to make shady investments. Brazil’s federal police estimate the bank’s total fraud at 12 billion reais ($2.3 billion).
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Flávio Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and asserts that Vorcaro’s money was used to produce a movie about his father’s life. The investigation continues.Political opponents have been on the attack since the revelation.“Anyone getting close to a criminal banker gives a bad sign,” former Minas Gerais Gov. Romeu Zema, a Jair Bolsonaro supporter who is running for the presidency, said on Monday.
