Toffoli Keeps Banco Master Confrontation During Court Recess, Defying PGR Objection

Overview

• The Supreme Court minister maintained a December 30 acareação between Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro, former BRB president Paulo Henrique Costa, and Banco Central director Ailton de Aquino Santos.
• Dias Toffoli ordered the confrontation on his own initiative after assuming the case on December 3, prompting unease at the Central Bank and a suspension request from Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet.
• Prosecutors and legal scholars describe the measure as atypical for this stage of an inquiry, with some arguing the criminal procedure code does not contemplate a confrontation between investigator and investigated; Aquino is not a target of the probe, heightening concerns about pressure on technical staff.
• The investigation examines the Central Bank’s handling of Banco Master, which was blocked from selling to BRB in September and later placed in liquidation following alleged fraudulent operations of about R$12 billion, with Vorcaro previously arrested and later released.
• Parallel reporting has intensified ethics scrutiny of the court, citing a R$129 million contract between the bank and the law firm of Minister Alexandre de Moraes’s wife and an alleged approach to the Central Bank president that Moraes denies, as Transparency International–Brasil notes growing international coverage.