The case has triggered the biggest political and financial scandal of the republic, reaching influential politicians, officials across all three branches of government and senior Central Bank personnel.
A Federal Police investigation found what Justice André Mendonça, now the reporting justice on the case at the Supreme Court, described as a “criminal organization” led by Vorcaro. Arrested since March 4, the former banker is under investigation for corruption, money laundering, obstruction of justice and crimes against the financial system.
He recently changed lawyers to pursue a plea bargain. Fabiano Zettel, a pastor, businessman and Vorcaro’s brother-in-law, is also in custody and has signaled a willingness to cooperate.
Vorcaro took control of Master in 2019, during Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, after receiving Central Bank approval on his fourth attempt to buy Banco Máxima, later renamed Banco Master.
At the time, Roberto Campos Neto was in his first year as Central Bank chair. In the following years, Master expanded quickly, while Vorcaro’s business ties and political relationships also widened, including links to former Bolsonaro ministers such as Ciro Nogueira of the Progressive Party.
By late 2023, under the current administration but still during Campos Neto’s tenure, the Central Bank had begun tightening scrutiny of Master. But the final decision to place the lender into extrajudicial liquidation came only almost two years later, in November 2025. Some in the market believe the Central Bank acted too slowly. Campos Neto did not comment.
The lifting of secrecy over Vorcaro’s cellphones, reviewed by the Federal Police and by the joint congressional inquiry into alleged fraud involving National Social Security Institute (INSS) pension deductions, revealed exchanges with his former fiancée, Martha Graeff, in which he referred to contacts with politicians and public officials.
In one message, the former banker said he had attended a meeting at the official Senate residence on August 3, 2025. Without naming Senate President Davi Alcolumbre of the Brazil Union Partyl, he said the meeting “went on until midnight” and that “Tuesday we’ll have another one.” A day earlier, he told his then girlfriend that he had met “Hugo” at the airport, a possible reference to Speaker Hugo Motta of the Republicans Party.
“As Speaker, I have always maintained an open schedule to hear different people and business groups from various sectors, because that is one of the functions of the office,” Motta said in a statement, adding that his duty is to work in the Lower House for approval of proposals that serve the country’s interests.
“There is no doubt that we are in a moment that demands responsibility and attention from all institutions, and I fully trust the investigations being conducted by the different bodies — the Supreme Court, Federal Police and Public Prosecutor’s Office, which are working with autonomy and diligence,” he added.
In another exchange, Vorcaro referred to Progressive Party chair, Ciro Nogueira, a senator from Piauí, as “one of my great lifelong friends.” Nogueira sponsored what became known as the “Master amendment,” which proposed raising Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC) coverage from R$250,000 to R$1 million.
The proposal was rejected, but Vorcaro celebrated its filing in a message to Graeff: “Ciro has just introduced a bill that is an atomic bomb in the financial market! It helps mid-sized banks and reduces the power of the big ones!”
Nogueira said in a statement that he “exchanges messages with hundreds of people, which does not make him close to them simply because he may interact with them.” He said he is unconcerned about the Vorcaro investigation because he engaged in no improper conduct. On the amendment, he argued that FGC coverage has been frozen at the same level for 10 years and needs to be updated to protect depositors.
Another political figure drawn into the case is Brazil Union chair, Antonio Rueda. In one exchange, then BRB CEO Paulo Henrique Costa told Vorcaro that he had spoken to the politician about the transaction and that Rueda wanted to meet the banker.
Brazilian magazine piauí reported that Rueda’s law firm worked for Master, something the Brazil Union leader later confirmed. An email received by the former banker also showed that a helicopter hired by him flew Nogueira and Rueda to the São Paulo racetrack to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Executive branch drawn in
The executive branch was also pulled into the affair after it emerged that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had met with Vorcaro off the official schedule, along with other officials including Central Bank Chair Gabriel Galípolo and cabinet ministers.
In an interview with news website UOL, President Lula said he met the banker at the request of former minister Guido Mantega. “What I told him was: ‘There will be no political position for or against Banco Master. What there will be is a technical investigation carried out by the Central Bank,’” Lula said.
Vorcaro also hired legal services from the law firm of former Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski. In a statement, Lewandowski said that after leaving the Supreme Court in April 2023, he returned to legal practice.
“Among many other clients, he provided legal consulting services to Banco Master,” the statement confirmed. When he was invited to join the cabinet in January 2024, he stepped away from the firm and suspended his registration with the Brazilian Bar Association.
Supreme Court under pressure
The Supreme Court was also drawn into the Master crisis. In February, Justice Dias Toffoli, who had been overseeing the investigation, had to step aside from the case and later declare himself recused. He and family members own Maridt, a company that sold part of the Tayayá resort in Paraná state to a fund controlled by Zettel, Vorcaro’s brother-in-law.
Toffoli has downplayed the episode. At first, he denied that the deal could compromise his impartiality. After stepping away from the Master case and recusing himself from related proceedings, he began saying he had no relationship with Vorcaro.
More recently, episodes involving Justice Alexandre de Moraes also came to light. In December, columnist Malu Gaspar of O Globo reported on a R$129 million contract under which the law firm of Viviane Barci, Moraes’s wife, would represent Master over a three-year period.
Gaspar also published reports indicating that Moraes had approached the Central Bank chair to intervene on Master’s behalf, and revealed that Moraes received messages from Vorcaro on the day the former banker was first arrested. “Any news? Were you able to get information or block it,” Vorcaro asked the justice before he was detained.
According to investigators, only part of the seized material has been examined. Along with the possible plea deals of Vorcaro and Zettel, that is another factor worrying officials across all three branches of government and suggesting that the scheme’s broad reach has yet to be fully mapped. Everyone mentioned in this report was contacted, and some did not comment.
