Ousted BRB Chief Kept Transfers Flowing to Banco Master After Central Bank Alerts

Overview

• Judge Ricardo Augusto Soares Leite ordered Paulo Henrique Costa removed from BRB for 60 days, froze assets, imposed travel bans and denied a request for his preventive detention.
• Federal police report that BRB sent R$16.7 billion to Banco Master since February 2024, including R$12.2 billion tied to the questioned operation, with transfers continuing after the September veto and the last on October 3.
• The probe describes at least 20 fabricated credit contracts produced through the shell company SX 016, later renamed Tirreno, with many documents authenticated on a single day at one São Paulo notary.
• Investigators say R$4–5 billion was diverted through two Bahia public-servant associations linked to former Master director Augusto Lima, as police arrested Daniel Vorcaro and other suspects this week.
• BRB says it identified inconsistencies, informed the Central Bank and began substituting assets, a claim the court disputes while citing contractual breaches and a September 15 filing that omitted ongoing transfers.