Toffoli Keeps Central Bank Director in Master Case as PF Delays Confrontation

Overview

• Minister Dias Toffoli rejected the Central Bank’s request for clarification and the prosecutor general’s bid to suspend the session, stressing that neither the Bank nor director Ailton de Aquino is under investigation and calling his participation relevant.
• On December 30, the Federal Police began separate depositions of Daniel Vorcaro, former BRB chief Paulo Henrique Costa, and Aquino under a PF delegate’s supervision, with authority to decide whether a direct confrontation is warranted now.
• The PF moved to sequential statements due to the large volume of seized digital evidence from Vorcaro’s devices, making an immediate acareação impractical and pushing a possible face-to-face to early January 2026.
• The inquiry examines alleged fraudulent credit deals in which Master acquired assets from Tirreno without payment and sold about R$12.2 billion in credits to BRB; the Central Bank vetoed BRB’s purchase in September and ordered Master’s liquidation in November.
• The case, under secrecy at the Supreme Court since early December after a federal deputy was mentioned, has drawn pushback as the Central Bank’s lawyers warned of a “procedural trap,” sector associations defended the regulator’s autonomy, and BC auditors criticized the confrontation as undue pressure.