Tottenham and Brazil forward Richarlison has publicly stated that Flávio Bolsonaro — a Liberal Party senator and presidential candidate — took possession of a luxury island estate without legal authorisation.
Richarlison brought the dispute into public view through a post on his Instagram account, directing a question at the handle @flaviobolsonaro about the location of his island. The property was jointly purchased by Richarlison and two business associates over the 2020–2021 period for a sum approaching 10 million reais, a figure that converts to more than one billion Chilean pesos. The transaction covered Ilha Comprida, a privately owned island within the waters off Angra dos Reis that features a mansion, a helipad, and a beach accessible only to its owners, all situated within a stretch of coastline lying south of Rio de Janeiro.
Among those who put forward interest in taking ownership of the island was Flávio Bolsonaro, alongside a number of other potential purchasers. Video recorded by a drone linked to Bolsonaro's account was later shared on his Instagram page.
Richarlison recounted that while ownership paperwork moved through the court system, Bolsonaro and his associate, attorney Willer Tomaz, took control of the island within a day. He added, through a quoted account, that the documentation process had been described to them as one that would stretch across months or potentially years before any resolution arrived. Within a 24-hour window, Flávio Bolsonaro and a man identified as Willian Tomaz travelled to the island and assumed control of it. Richarlison contended that the legal process had broken down at that point.
Ownership of the property rights rests with a business entity linked to Willer Tomaz. A formal request for Federal Police involvement in probing what the footballer described as an unlawful seizure of property was subsequently lodged by the striker.
Tomaz has been drawn into the formal investigative net of Operation Sem Desconto, a probe examining deductions taken from the accounts of retirees and pensioners affiliated with the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) that authorities say were not authorised. According to the allegations put forward by investigators, the operation may have siphoned off more than 6 billion reais across a five-year period. Investigators are also looking into whether Tomaz used online betting platforms as a vehicle for moving illicit funds, with the inquiry centring on allegations that roughly 5 billion reais passed through such platforms over the course of 2025.
Investigation records reviewed by a broadcast outlet identified Flávio Bolsonaro as the primary account holder on a Banco Santander profile tied to Alcazar Holdings, a firm under Tomaz's management. Records show that a firm connected to Tomaz, which also held ownership of a gambling operation, covered the cost of private jet travel for Bolsonaro and members of his family across several European destinations during 2025.
Bolsonaro described his relationship with Tomaz as a personal one and rejected any connection to the reported irregularities as speculation without basis. Lula — at that point campaigning ahead of the 25 October presidential runoff in which the two were opponents — released a video in support of Richarlison, pointing out that the footballer had paid ten million reais for the island only to find it had effectively ceased to exist as a usable asset.
Lula referred the matter to the Federal Police, requesting an inquiry into what he characterised as a coordinated scheme in which attorney Willer Tomaz and Flávio Bolsonaro purportedly visited the island, captured aerial footage via drone, and subsequently filed an ownership claim with the Union's Heritage Secretariat in Rio de Janeiro. Separately, Richarlison told journalists that recovering the property itself was not his objective — he was seeking reimbursement of the funds paid, with a portion of any recovered amount earmarked for a hospital in his home city of Nova Venécia, in Espírito Santo.
