The Dark Horse Forensic Report Says the Money Is Traceable. It Did Not Trace Where It Came From.
BRAZIL · INVESTIGATIONS
Key Facts
- —The report Commissioned by the defence of the production company, not by a court or the police.
- —The finding US$13.3m in total, with no public money, and all outgoings traceable.
- —The author Anisio Costa Castelo Branco, who heads a private forensic institute in Brazil.
- —The admission He told Poder360 in August that he did not track the fund the money came from.
- —The fund Havengate, a Texas vehicle, linked in police material to about 61m reais, some US$11.8m, from Banco Master.
- —The catch Tracing that origin is what the money-laundering inquiry is about. The report skipped it.
The expert who signed it was asked in August whether he had tracked the source. He said he had not.
A Dark Horse forensic report is circulating in Brazil with a clean conclusion. It says the film’s funding contains no public money and is fully traceable.
Both halves of that sentence need a qualifier, and the second one needs a large qualifier. The expert who wrote it has said publicly that he did not examine where the money originated.
What the Report Says
Gazeta do Povo published its conclusions on 14 September 2026. The total funding is given as US$13.3m.
Of that, US$3.7m is attributed to Brazil and US$9.6m to the United States. The initial investor is named as the Havengate Development Fund, a Texas real-estate vehicle.
The report concludes that no public money entered the production. It also says the sums involved can be followed.
It was produced by Anisio Costa Castelo Branco, president of a private body called the Instituto de Pericia Investigativa. It was paid for by the defence.
The Interview That Undercuts It
On 26 August, nearly three weeks before the report was written up in the press, Poder360 interviewed the same expert. He was asked about the source of the funds.
He said he had not tracked the fund and had no contact with it. He described that information as confidential to the fund itself.
What he examined, on his own account, were the production company’s outgoings. That is a different exercise from establishing where the money came from.
So the claim that the funds are traceable rests on an audit of spending, not of origin. The two are not interchangeable.
This is the whole of the problem. A report can show that money left a company cleanly while saying nothing about how it arrived.
Why the Origin Is the Question
The federal police consider the source of the money fundamental to their inquiry. That inquiry concerns suspected money laundering.
Havengate has been linked in police material to roughly 61m reais, about US$11.8m, associated with Daniel Vorcaro. Vorcaro controlled Banco Master, the bank placed in liquidation last November.
If the money came through that route, whether the company then spent it tidily is beside the point. The inquiry is about the upstream leg.
A Dark Horse forensic report that stops at the company’s bank account cannot answer that. It was not designed to.
A Separate Thread: the Parliamentary Amendment
Justice Flavio Dino is overseeing a related investigation into public funds. It concerns a 2m reais parliamentary amendment, about US$390,000, secured by federal deputy Mario Frias.
Frias is a former culture secretary under Jair Bolsonaro and is credited with the story on which the film is based. He has responded to Dino regarding the amendments.
On 13 September, Dino authorised the use of financial-intelligence reports from Coaf in the police investigation of the production company. That is a separate authorisation from the film’s own accounts.
Handwritten notes seized from a businesswoman are reported by Estadao to map a flow of funds between three entities. A name written as Mario appears marked as a partner.
That identification is an inference drawn from a first name in a handwritten diagram. It should be read as one until more is established.
The Producer Has Refused a Plea Deal
The producer at the centre of the police operation is Karina Ferreira da Gama, of GoUp Entertainment. Her home was searched by São Paulo civil police in June.
She told CNN Brasil on 13 September that she is under pressure to cooperate and will not. Her phrasing invoked Mauro Cid, the former Bolsonaro aide whose plea bargain shaped the coup-plot case.
The exact wording varies between outlets. Some render it as a refusal to be the new Mauro Cid, others as the next one.
What the Film Is
Dark Horse is a biographical drama about Jair Bolsonaro, directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and starring Jim Caviezel. It covers the 2018 campaign and the stabbing.
The story is credited to Mario Frias. Eduardo Bolsonaro is listed as an executive producer.
It opened in the United States on 11 September 2026. No Brazilian release date has been set.
How to Read a Commissioned Report
Nothing here says the expert was dishonest. He described the limits of his work plainly when asked.
The problem is the distance between those limits and the headline his report has generated. A defence-commissioned audit of outgoings has been reported as a clearance of the funding.
Two labels should travel with any use of it. It was paid for by one side, and its author has said he did not audit the source.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who commissioned the Dark Horse forensic report?
The defence team of GoUp Entertainment, the production company. It is not a court-appointed or police examination, which is the first thing to note about it.
Does it prove no public money funded the film?
It asserts that, but its author told Poder360 in August that he did not trace the fund the money arrived from. He examined the company’s outgoings rather than the origin of its income.
What is Havengate?
A Texas real-estate fund named in the report as the initial investor. Police material links it to roughly 61m reais, about US$11.8m, associated with Banco Master’s controller Daniel Vorcaro.
What is the parliamentary amendment investigation?
A separate inquiry overseen by Justice Flavio Dino into a 2m reais amendment, about US$390,000, secured by deputy Mario Frias, who is credited with the film’s story.
Has anyone been charged?
No charges have been reported in connection with the film’s financing. The producer has publicly refused to enter a plea agreement.
Sources: Gazeta do Povo of 14 September, Poder360 of 26 August, Estadao, InfoMoney, Money Times and Metropoles.
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