São Paulo’s Wi‑Fi contract diverted to fund Bolsonaro biopic film

Police in São Paulo identified evidence that public money from the Wi‑Fi Livre SP programme – a R$108 million contract awarded without bidding to the NGO Instituto Conhecer Brasil (ICB) – was diverted to finance the film “Dark Horse”, a biopic of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The contract, signed by municipal officials including secretary Bruno Lima and chief of staff Roger Willians da Fonseca, released R$25 million to ICB shortly after political meetings involving Bolsonaro, mayor Ricardo Nunes and other politicians.

Investigators uncovered a web of sub‑contracts with several companies sharing addresses, suggesting an effort to obscure the flow of funds and possibly launder money. Some of the firms have overseas links, including a Go Up subsidiary in the United States. The scandal also involves payments of R$50 thousand each to evangelical speakers Elizete Malafaia and Ana Paula Valadão for a gospel literary event organized by the same producer, Karina Ferreira da Gama, using municipal resources. Several elected officials, such as deputies Mario Frias and Paulo Teixeira, have been named in the probe.

The investigation ties the misallocation of funds to political negotiations and raises questions about the use of public resources for partisan projects.