According to UOL, 51 of 107 Bolsonaro family properties involved cash

In stories published on 30 August and 9 September 2022, UOL reporters Juliana Dal Piva and Thiago Herdy mapped 107 properties traded by the Bolsonaro family since the 1990s^[2]. In 51 of them, according to UOL, payment was fully or partly in cash^[1].

The findings cover Jair Bolsonaro, his mother, five siblings, three sons and two ex-wives^[1]. According to Poder360, the first story details transactions worth R$ 13.5 million since the 1990s^[2].

Flávio Bolsonaro filed a criminal complaint against Juliana Dal Piva and Thiago Herdy, accused the reporters of calumny and defamation and sought R$ 50,000 in damages. He called them “Lula supporters disguised as journalists” (our translation)^[2].

The first-instance court denied the injunction. On 22 September 2022, at Flávio's request, appellate judge Demetrius Cavalcanti, of the TJDFT, ordered UOL to take both stories offline. The next day, Justice André Mendonça, of the STF, ordered them restored, citing press freedom^[2].

“What's the problem with buying some property with cash?”, asked Jair Bolsonaro, then running for re-election, on 30 August 2022 (our translation)^[1].

No charges were brought over these purchases. In November 2023, Mendonça shelved the request by congressman Reginaldo Lopes (PT-MG) to investigate Jair, Flávio and Eduardo Bolsonaro, and called it a “generic account, of an absolutely conjectural nature” (our translation)^[3].

In 2022, Justice Paulo de Tarso Sanseverino, of the TSE, kept a campaign ad on the subject on air: “The reference to the term ‘cash’ appears, at first sight, suited to being submitted to public debate” (our translation)^[4]. Flávio asked for the stories to be taken offline^[2]. Now he is the candidate. On 25 October, the answer belongs to the voter.