Flavio Bolsonaro confirmed in US after leaving Brazil

Flavio Bolsonaro, Brazil's defeated presidential candidate, has arrived in the United States, according to his cousin Leonardo Rodrigues de Jesus, who confirmed the arrival to BBC Brazil. His whereabouts had been unclear before the confirmation. The move followed reports that he had left Brazil despite a court order requiring him to surrender his passport while facing a money laundering investigation. A senior US State Department official said Washington would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, allowing them entry.

He was last seen publicly in Brasilia shortly after losing the runoff election to the left-wing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula won by almost four million votes and secured a historic fourth term. Bolsonaro had said he would not recognise the result and later claimed election irregularities. President Donald Trump, who had backed Bolsonaro, also claimed without evidence that the election was rigged. Lula criticised Bolsonaro's departure on social media, calling it 'shameful'.

Brazilian authorities demanded on Monday that Bolsonaro surrender his passport as part of the money laundering inquiry. Police considered him a flight risk and asked the Supreme Court to seize the documents. Police later said his Brazilian passport had been cancelled after he failed to hand it over. Bolsonaro had posted a video saying a Supreme Court judge had asked for his passport and that he would comply, but he did not do so. He had also said he had no plans to leave Brazil.

He is facing more than one line of investigation: - alleged links to a lawyer accused of money laundering; - a request to a banker at the centre of a corruption scandal for millions of dollars to fund a biopic about his father.

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

Sources have suggested that he plans to claim political asylum in the US, though that has not been officially confirmed. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, has also faced legal action. One account said he was in jail after conviction over attempts to overturn the 2022 election, while another said he was under house arrest after supporters stormed government buildings following an earlier election defeat. During the campaign, Flavio Bolsonaro said he would free his father if elected. In a debate, Bolsonaro asked Lula why so many prisoners supported him, and Lula replied that he wanted all of them, including Bolsonaro's father.

His arrival in the US is politically sensitive. Trump had made Bolsonaro his preferred candidate in Brazil and has long sought to promote right-wing politics in Latin America. The result was seen as a blow to Trump before difficult midterm elections. It also leaves Bolsonaro, who had been ahead in the original vote before Lula surged in the runoff, facing the possibility of criminal charges rather than the presidency.