Brazil: Losing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro was prevented from leaving the country

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Losing Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro was ordered to surrender his passports and banned from leaving the country due to a money laundering investigation, a day after he lost the election.

The G1 news website reported on Monday, citing the decision, that Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro's passports, including his diplomatic passport, to be canceled and handed over within 24 hours.

Bolsonaro was also prohibited from communicating with lawyer Wheeler Tomaz, who is also under investigation.

The case relates to suspicions of money laundering linked to online sports betting companies. The Federal Police found evidence indicating a link between Bolsonaro and a bank account belonging to one of the lawyer’s companies. Bolsonaro denies any such connection.

The 45-year-old senator said that the federal police asked him to hand over his passports on Monday, following his visit to his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest.

Bolsonaro attributed the issuance of the order to statements made by his brother Eduardo, who resides in the United States. Eduardo had said before the elections that he would support Flavio's departure from Brazil if he lost.

"I never thought about leaving the country. I will hand over my passports and face this absurdity, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me," Bolsonaro said in a video.

Bolsonaro is also facing an investigation into suspicions of corruption and money laundering related to the financing of the film “Dark Horse,” which deals with the biography of his father. He denies any wrongdoing.

The right-wing senator lost the run-off in the presidential elections held on Sunday to the current left-wing president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who won a fourth presidential term after obtaining about 51.8% of the votes, compared to 48.2% for Bolsonaro, according to the electoral court.

Bolsonaro said in the video that he would challenge Lula's victory in court, due to what he described as the misuse of state resources and political influence during the election campaign. He had previously called for the entire election to be cancelled.