STF Relator Orders PGR to Explain Vorcaro Note Saying He Needed 'Protection'

Overview

• André Mendonça, the Supreme Court judge overseeing the Master case, sent a formal request to the Prosecutor-General asking for clarification about messages seized from banker Daniel Vorcaro and gave Paulo Gonet five days to reply.
• Federal Police investigators say a note on Vorcaro's phone said he needed the “protection of Andrei and Paulo,” which the report identifies as PF director-general Andrei Rodrigues and Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
• The PF concluded that the likely recipient of the note was Supreme Court minister Alexandre de Moraes, based on other intercepted communications that show ties between Vorcaro and Moraes.
• Vorcaro remains detained and under federal investigation for suspected crimes against the financial system and corruption after Banco Central ordered Banco Master's extrajudicial liquidation in November 2025.
• Reporting documents that Banco Master paid substantial sums to Viviane Barci de Moraes, the wife of Alexandre de Moraes, and Mendonça has described the probe as pointing to the country's largest financial fraud with mafia-like contours, which raises the prospect of further institutional scrutiny depending on the PGR response.