Judge Links BRB Executives to Alleged Banco Master Fraud as Central Bank Orders Liquidation

Overview

• A federal decision says BRB leaders participated knowingly in a scheme that funneled R$16.7 billion to Banco Master, with potential losses above R$10 billion and R$12.2 billion tied to suspect credit assets.
• Police detained controller Daniel Vorcaro and other Master executives and secured 60‑day removals of BRB’s president Paulo Henrique Costa and CFO Dario Oswaldo Garcia under Operation Compliance Zero.
• The Central Bank decreed extrajudicial liquidation of the Master conglomerate, citing a grave liquidity crisis and serious regulatory breaches, and its stability committee assessed no systemic risk.
• Investigators are opening fronts into sales of Master securities to 18 state and municipal pension funds that placed about R$1.876 billion in uncovered letras financeiras, while the FGC notes 1.6 million creditors with roughly R$41 billion guaranteed.
• BRB says it flagged documentation divergences to the Central Bank, announced an external audit, and was excluded from asset freezes as an institution, while the DF public accounts prosecutor asked the audit court to probe governance failures in the attempted acquisition.