Newly surfaced documents indicate that Flávio Bolsonaro, Brazil's presidential candidate and senator, had indirect ties to the betting company Best Bet. The Federal Police of Brazil has initiated an investigation into whether Flávio collaborated with Tomaz to obscure the origins of funds via betting houses. This investigation was reported by Folha de S.Paulo on October 19.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes serves as the rapporteur for the case in the Supreme Court, where no charges have yet been filed against Bolsonaro. He has vehemently denied any allegations, asserting that his relationship with Tomaz was purely friendship without any business association. Flávio called the ban an "aggression against legal certainty," though he refrained from committing to restore any permits. On October 22, he assured Flamengo's president Luiz Eduardo Baptista of his intention to address issues affecting clubs and bookmakers if elected.
Tomaz, the lawyer involved, declined to comment on the documents, stating he was unaware of them. Recently, he noted that Brazil experienced its largest betting turnover, amounting to €886 million in 2025, according to CNN Brasil and G1. Concurrently, Brazil’s Federal Court is examining allegations of money laundering linked to Tomaz, his businesses, and Flávio Bolsonaro.
Details revealed in the documents show that Tomaz established Cathedral Holdings in Madeira in January 2023, starting with a capital of 50,000 euros. In February, Cathedral Holdings launched Rede Loto, which operates as Best Bet, a licensed lottery overseen by Cathedral Holdings. By May 2023, Loterj had authorized Best Bet among 13 companies, with the license signed by Hazenclever Cançado, Loterj's president, appointed by Flávio Bolsonaro.
During the bidding process, Tomaz’s company proposed sharing 20% of its income, while a competing firm offered 26%. The competitor was disqualified due to a technicality involving decimal points. After winning the bid, Best Bet negotiated an increased income share of 26.455%. It began full operations across the country in July 2023.
Additionally, Tomaz established Alcazar Holdings and a Brazilian branch named Alcazar Brasil. Both Cathedral and Alcazar are managed by Mateo Scudeler and operated from the same office in the Marina Club building in Funchal. Financial documents from Cathedral reveal that its receivables are projected to reach €984,000 in 2025, a significant increase from €7,800 the previous year, while Alcazar’s debt surged from €8,100 to €824,000 in the same period.
The Federal Police reported that Flávio held "master user" access to the bank account of Alcazar Holdings, an offshore entity co-owned by Tomaz, until May 2025, when a request was made to revoke this access. Folha de S.Paulo disclosed on October 15 that Cathedral had booked flights involving the senator on at least three occasions that year, including travel from Lisbon to Nice on April 11 and from Cascais to Nice and Paris on May 23, which included some of his relatives.
The investigation also references Cláudio Castro, who served as governor of Rio de Janeiro from May 2021 to March 2026, and Alexandre Ramagem. Furthermore, there were mentions of payments made to Torre Comunicação Estratégica, linked to Ramagem, which purportedly provided services to Tomaz’s law office during Ramagem's mayoral campaign in 2024.
Bolsonaro firmly denies any involvement in these allegations, maintaining that he has no ties to the newspaper reports and insists he has never possessed an account with either Tomaz or his companies. The inquiry is ongoing, with oversight from the Federal Police and representation in the Supreme Court.
