Until a few months ago, Brazilians told pollsters that crime and security were their main concerns. But in the weeks before the election, a scandal involving a jailed banker accused of orchestrating one of Brazil’s largest financial fraud cases has pushed corruption to the top of the list. The banker, Daniel Vorcaro, is well connected and has ties to many powerful people in Brazil, both on the political right and left. Flávio Bolsonaro acknowledged asking Vorcaro to finance a biographical film about his father after voice recordings emerged in which he could be heard asking for 134 million reais ($25.9 million; £19.5 million). Police have since opened an investigation into Flávio Bolsonaro on suspicion of corruption and money laundering in the financing of the film. But pollsters say Lula’s campaign was also hit by the Vorcaro scandal, after alleged links emerged between the disgraced banker and a Lula ally, Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes is the man who presided over Jair Bolsonaro’s trial and has issued a series of subsequent rulings on the conditions of his detention. A police report suggested that Vorcaro had made numerous calls and sent several messages to a phone number that officers said is linked to Moraes. Investigators say Vorcaro asked the person he was communicating with for help to avoid arrest. Moraes has denied any wrongdoing, but these latest revelations mean that, in the crucial weeks before the election, attention shifted from the allegations against Flávio Bolsonaro to those against the Supreme Court judge. Lula has tried to distance himself from Moraes, saying that “no one is above the law,” but his rival has already taken advantage of the accusations against the judge for political gain. “Voting for Lula means voting for Moraes,” Flávio Bolsonaro told his supporters at a rally, taking advantage of the right’s intense dislike of the judge to shore up his own support.
